The Swift Current United Way kicked-off their 2017 campaign early Friday morning at Living Sky Casino.

This year's theme for the non-profit organization is "Live United" which focuses on setting aside differences and collectively working towards a common goal.

The United Way Annual Kick-off Breakfast officially welcomed two new refugee families to the City of Swift Current, and with help from Public Speaker and Freelance Journalist Molly Thomas, they were able to share their story.

"That part of the presentation was very special for me to hear from a Syrian right there," Thomas told Swift Current Online. "It's not like Syrians are just living across the ocean or they're in another refugee country or Toronto or in Vancouver. They're in Swift Current; these are the families, let's engage, let's be friends and neighbours."

Thomas, who has spent time in Iraq and Jordan reporting on the refugee camps, was able to use her knowledge and experience from those situations to portray her message to the audience, speaking about the truths of the refugee crisis.

"It was a very educational and impactful morning of bringing a lot of fact to our community when it comes to this topic," Stacey Schwartz, Executive Director of the Swift Current United Way said. "It really shows how the media doesn't always give the truth or it doesn't really properly reflect the actual facts of what's going on and fear drives a lot of that."

The goal of the Swift Current United Way is to raise $100,000 this year. Their biggest event of the year is the 3nd Annual Foundation of Hope Gala, taking place on November 4th, 2017.