Niagara-on-the-Lake’s annual Candlelight Stroll brought out families young and old to spread holiday cheer for a worthy cause on Friday night.
This year, a crowd of hundreds met in Old Town to walk with candles lit in support of the Kazemi family.
Asadullah and Mahdia Kazemi are from Afghanistan and fled the Taliban more than a year ago.
After a 47-day journey to Canada, the family crossed the border into Quebec in February 2023. At the time, Mahdia was pregnant with their first child.
Now they have two children, one-year-old Ali and three-month-old Zahra.
Donations from this year’s stroll will go toward helping the Kazemis build their lives here.
Beatrice Campbell is stage manager at the Shaw Festival and a friend of the Kazemi family.
Campbell came into contact with the family after volunteering to drive Asadullah to appointments in NOTL.
Campbell nominated them as recipients for this year’s stroll.
“I wrote a letter from my heart about these people and how much it would mean to them,” she said.
It took Asadullah Kazemi around $15,000 U.S. dollars to come to Canada and around $5,000 is remaining of that debt.
Emelyn Williams, the stroll’s organizer, told Campbell she feels confident that the amount has been met, though total funds raised are yet to be calculated.
When Campbell told the Kazemis they would be the recipients, they responded with relief and huge gratitude, Campbell said.
“(Asadullah) can’t believe his good fortune to have landed here,” she said.
Mahdia told Campbell the stroll was the happiest day since she came to Canada, Campbell said.
“She has always wanted to go in one of those carriages and they simply couldn’t afford it. It was a very very happy night for them,” she said.
A cheque will be presented to the family on Monday, Dec. 16.
As is tradition, there was also a donation bin collecting non-perishable food items for the Newark Neighbours food bank.
Some people have been attending the stroll for decades.
Lindsay Bergsma and her family have walked the winding path through NOTL’s downtown for the last 20 years, she said.
“It’s a tradition,” Mary Jane Henderson said.
‘It’s probably our 20th (stroll),” Neil Henderson said.
For some, like Jeffrey Corron, it’s the act of coming together that makes the stroll memorable.
Corrin visits from Hamilton every year and says the sense of community is palpable each year as people make their way through the streets, singing carols and illuminating the path.
