Ottawa tween raises over $9,000 for Ukrainian refugees

A soon-to-be Ottawa seventh grader raised over $9,000 for Ukrainian families coming to Canada. Georgia Smith traded her Bat Mitzvah party for donations to help Ukrainian families.

“With COVID last March we were in lockdown again, and I told my parents I didn’t need a party, I wanted to do a mitzvah – a commandment to do good deeds,” explained Georgia.

“I saw the people that were being impacted by the war and I felt that I should do whatever I can to help. It was sad to see children my age having to hide in bomb shelters and leave their homes behind.”

And so, the fundraising began. Georgia’s dad, Aaron Smith, helped choose the fundraising platform. The young philanthropist and her dad noted that finding a charity they could trust was the hardest part of the process.

“We wanted to pick the right charity that would get the money into the hands of the people who needed it right away when they came to Ottawa,” Georgia noted.

Georgia partnered with Ukraine to Canada and Jewish Family Services to set up a fundraising page. She sent the link to every family member that would have attended her Bat Mitzvah and, in two weeks, Georgia hit the $3,000 mark for her donations.

“Through [the page] I helped raise $6,226, and then there was also $3,000 in matching funds so I helped to raise $9,226 overall!” By the end of the month, Georgia had reached her goal of fundraising for Ukrainian families.

Georgia doesn’t plan on stopping there. She hopes to always be active in her community and is hopeful to continue after the success of her first-ever fundraiser.

She gives one piece of advice to other tweens thinking of raising money for a good cause. “You can do it too, with some hard work and picking a charity to support your cause you can make a difference…You don’t have to be an adult to do things that help people!”

The Ukraine to Canada team is thankful for and proud of Georgia for her fundraising.

Learn more about how you can help by visiting our donations page.