Robert Sayaphet is paying it forward big time… his grandma, parents and brother immigrated to Canada from Laos in 1979 and settled in Ottawa. He remembers his mom taking his brothers and him to the Snowsuit Fund depot every winter to get snowsuits. He thought it was the coolest thing ever to get new snowsuits for many years during the winter. At the time, he didn’t know they were being helped by the Fund. As a kid, he knew they didn’t have a lot of money but he thought his family just went there to get new snowsuits for free.
Robert who works at Rhodes & Williams, a leading insurance firm, remembers the difference The Snowsuit Fund made in his life as a child of an immigrant family, and he hopes he can do the same for other families like his own who come to Canada, not knowing the language and try to adapt to a different culture. As he says, “Add in the harsh winters and it’s almost unbearable to people not used to such weather.” By personally contributing and getting his workplace involved with the Snowsuit Fund, too, Robert is paying it forward big time!