Canadian girl selling hot chocolate on her seventh birthday raises $1,800 for Syrian refugees

Speaking to Canadian news channel CTV, Abigail said: 'Their land is getting bombed and stuff and they need help'

Abigail (centre) has been selling hot chocolate to raise money for Syrian refugees (CTV)

A Canadian girl celebrated her seventh birthday raising money for Syrian refugees.

Abigail MacDonald sold hot chocolate and cookies to make $1,800 to put towards the cost of funding a Syrian family to come her town in Paris, Ontario.

Speaking to Canadian news channel CTV, Abigail said: “Their [the refugees] land is getting bombed and stuff and they need help.” CTV reported that Abigail had overheard her parents talking about the refugee crisis and wanted to help.

The money raised from "Hot Chocolate for Hope" will be put towards a larger drive by her local church.

Abigail’s father, Alex, said: “The government has said you need about $22,000 to sponsor a family, and the committee wants to raise $30,000 so they can have a family of six or more.”

The hot chocolate drive came after the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, greeted a planeload of Syrian refugees on Friday, telling the first to disembark that “you’re safe at home now.”

It is expected that the country will accept 25,000 refugees from the war-torn region in the coming months.

Last month a Canadian couple cancelled their lavish wedding plans and donated the money to help the plight of Syrian refugees settling in their country.

The couple, who got engaged in the summer of 2014, had already booked the venue, hired a caterer and drawn up a guest list of 130 people. But instead of going through with lavish wedding, they cancelled it all and had a small reception at Toronto’s City Hall last month.

Speaking to ABC News, Mrs Jackson said: "We were in the midst of wedding planning in September when that devastating photo of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi found on a beach came out.

"Like so many other people, we became acutely aware of how bad the situation was getting and how important it was to act and do something positive, so we cancelled the wedding and redirected the funds."