A helpline established by Manitoba Red Cross received over 200 calls in the first day.

The line was launched on Monday for people wanting to assist Syrian refugees arriving to Manitoba.

VP of Manitoba Red Cross, Shawn Freely says they let callers know what the needs of settlement agencies are:

"Some might say that they need clothes, some might say they need some volunteers, some may say they need housing. So what we do, is if people are interested, they can call that phone number and, say they wanna do something but not sure what the needs are,  we can give them that information".

The province’s refugee response plan calls for refugees coming to Manitoba, to initially settle in Winnipeg, and then to other communities.

There are currently no agencies that are sponsoring Syrian refugees to Thompson.

The hotline number is 1-888-662-3211.