Skip to content

From Deep Cove to Lesvos with love

Erian Baxter watches visitors cheerfully arrive on the beach in front of her Deep Cove kayak shop for a day of fun on the water. On a beach in Lesvos, Baxter will soon see weary visitors arrive on the shore for sanctuary from war.
1

Erian Baxter watches visitors cheerfully arrive on the beach in front of her Deep Cove kayak shop for a day of fun on the water.

On a beach in Lesvos, Baxter will soon see weary visitors arrive on the shore for sanctuary from war. 

Baxter and friends Laurie Cooper and Ellen Fulton are returning to Greece this month to volunteer once again with the Syrian refugee effort.

The trio first arrived on the scene in the fall of 2015 to lend a hand on the island that welcomes many Syrian migrants.

But before Baxter leaves for Lesvos this time, she is collecting flip-flops, socks and underwear, along with monetary donations, at Deep Cove Outdoors (352 Lynn Ave., North Vancouver) until Wednesday.

“Lots of time they lose their footwear when they are in the rubber boats,” says Baxter, explaining how flip-flops are valuable because they help with hygiene and you can keep them on in the shower.

Approximately 6,000 Syrians are currently living in a refugee camp built for 1,500, Baxter has learned. She will be working with The Hope Project on the ground in Greece, helping to organize clothing donations. 

“The reason I did it (volunteered) in the first place was I really felt it (Lesvos) was like us here in Deep Cove at the beach,” says Baxter. “Sometimes it’s just easier to send money … but when we checked the last time when we offered to go, they were like: ‘We need bodies, we need help.’”

After the 2015 trip, the friends formed a grassroots organization called Canada Caring, which connects other volunteers and promotes various efforts supporting refugees here and abroad. For more information or to donate to a refugee project, go to canadacaring.ca.