I haven't known Noura for long - a couple of months, at most - but in that time she's impressed the hell out of me.
She's never had less than three major projects on the go - YourVoiceCAN (a civic engagement initiative) and LifeLine Syria (which has been endorsed by the Premier and Mayor of Toronto) being my favourites - and yet as harried as she gets, Noura is always smiling.
She's tireless, dedicated to a fault and she produces results. Noura's also empathetic, appreciative and considerate of others - I'll never forget the day she plopped a salad down in front of me because she saw I was working and not taking the time to get myself some food.
In short, Noura's the best kind of person.
And she's looking for your help.
To me and more than a few other people, Noura is the face of the Canadian Arab Institute - a think-and-do-tank that supports and empowers young Canadian Arabs to be proud and active contributors to Canadian society.
Let's pause on this a second.
Canadians have rightly recoiled in horror at the suffering of Syrians. We have opened our hearts, wallets and even our communities to help them escape the slaughter ravaging their homeland.
It takes a while to raise the funds, do the checks and go through the process, but before too long there will be an influx of New Canadians coming from Syria, just as there was from Vietnam in the 70s. When these Syrian refugees arrive, organizations like the Canadian Arab Institute will be crucial in helping them integrate successfully into Canadian society.
And it'll be folk like Noura who lead these efforts.
Noura's awesome. The Canadian Arab Institute is awesome. You, my fellow Canadians, are awesome.
All in all, it's a pretty good fit.
Back to the help. Noura's got a small ask of you - $500 to help her and the Canadian Arab Institute keep doing the amazing work they do already. That's $50 from ten of us or $100 from five generous patrons.
She has until November 30th - less than 28 days - to raise it.
You can help Noura by donating what you can right here.
Believe me - she's worth it.
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