Serving International Refugees without leaving Home

Transcription

1 Serving International Refugees without leaving Home The opportunity for service is easy. We do not have to look for people in need in foreign lands, they have come to us. Amy Wylie, Refugee Services Office, WHO ARE REFUGEES? Any person who is outside any country of such person s nationality, and who is unable to return to, and is unable to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country because of persecution or a well founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. (Official definition taken from the Refugee Act of 1980, P.L. No ) African Symbol for Women Helping Women An estimated 70,000 international refugees are expected to make their new home in the United States in There is a great need for individuals, families, organizations, and businesses to reach out and welcome refugees to their new home in America. We ll find the place which God for us prepared, Far away, in the West. Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid; there the saints, will be blessed. (Come, Come, Ye Saints LDS Hymn)

2 HANDS TO HEARTS CAMPAIGN KICKS OFF WITH 1000 QUILTS FOR REFUGEES Volunteers Asked to Donate 1000 Quilts a Year for Incoming Refugees SALT LAKE CITY April 7th, 2009 at 9:00 AM. Thanks to a generous donation 1000 refugees will receive a quilt stitched with compassion. The large donation was delivered to the Asian Association of Utah today to disburse to 1000 of the neediest 25,000 refugees in Utah. Approximately 1000 new refugees arrive in Utah directly from refugee camps each year and hundreds more secondary migrants, referring to those searching for better lives in Utah after receiving first services in other assigned states. Individuals and groups are asked to make and donate quilts to the Quilts a Year project. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! Statue of Liberty These people are not strangers and foreigners but children of our Heavenly Father. They are our brothers and our sisters. Elder Wirthlin, April 2001 We are thrilled to receive such a large delivery of quilts that were hand stitched by our own community members. Each of these blankets will go directly to an individual who is in great need of neighborly kindness, said Amy Wylie, Volunteer Coordinator for the Utah Refugee Services Office. The overwhelming fact is that it is not enough. We need at least one per agency per day or 1000 a year for incoming refugees. We hope to provide a hand stitched quilt to every refugee that arrives in Utah through one of the two refugee resettlement agencies and to the neediest individuals serviced by the Asian Association of Utah. The 1000 Quilts a Year project is the first in a series of public campaigns that will focus on Hands to Hearts projects. In addition to these projects, there are many more ways to volunteer to help refugees in Utah. For more information contact Amy Wylie at (801) or awylie@utah.gov.

3 The 100 Dresses Project Relief Society and neighborhood groups have gathered young girl s dresses for refugees. The project can be based on the children s book, The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. A similar project could be centered around the book by Thomas S. Monson, A Christmas Dress for Ellen. Following is one mother s idea incorporating this project with her daughter s birthday party. I love the 100 dress idea. I doubt we could gather 100 dresses, but it would be our goal. I want to have her friends each bring a "gently used" or new dress instead of a gift for my daughter. I will have the girls wrap the dresses nicely in a box getting them prepared to give the dresses as gifts. I was also thinking of putting a new pair of underwear in each box as well. The girls would then make cards for the girls who are receiving the dresses. On the outside of the gift we would note the size to make sure the girls receiving them get the correct size. Here are her comments after the party. I just wanted to write to let you know how the 100 dress birthday party went. We did it this past Wednesday. My daughter had about 45 girls show up and we collected and wrapped 78 dresses. The sizes vary from 6 month all the way up to girls size 11/12. Most dresses were wrapped with a new pair of underwear as well. Each box is marked with the size and season/or style of dress (example: Christmas or short sleeve). I also had the girls make a card for each of the wrapped dresses and write a small note to the recipient. All the girls seem to have a great time. I know I did and I know my daughter did. I am attaching a picture so you can see.

4 Get Creative The Online Coats for Kids Project My book club recently met with Amy Wylie to find out more about refugees in Salt Lake City, and to learn about opportunities to serve. I had just had a baby and wasn't feeling up to walking around the neighborhood soliciting coats, but wanted to do something to help. I have a "mommy blog" with about 1,500 readers, and thought that might be an excellent way to spread the word. I believe that most people are basically good and want to help you just have to a) let them know about it, b) make it easy for them to help and b) remind them/harass them in a good natured way. Those were my goals with the online coat drive. I wrote a blog post letting people know about the need for coats and warm winter items, and asked people to buy a new coat online and have it shipped directly to the refugee center at AAU. I gave them links to places online where they could buy new coats at a discount, links to coupons for various clothing stores (which would make the new coats more affordable to buy), and links to stores that were currently offering free or discounted shipping. I asked people to spread the word on THEIR blogs or via other social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook. I asked everyone who donated a coat or helped to spread the word to leave a comment on my blog, and told them I would randomly pick one of the people who commented as a "winner" and would send them a $25 Amazon gift certificate. I put a thermometer on my blog so that people could see how many coats had been donated. Many readers ed me to say they were sending coats, some ed me to say they were collecting coats, a few ed me to say they were writing about the project on their own blogs, on Twitter, and on Facebook. One man who read my blog got excited about the project and started his own parallel coat drive, advertising it to his 1,650 friends on Facebook. (Hopefully that drive will bear fruit as well!) This is on the honor system. If people ed me to say they'd purchased four coats that would be shipped to the center, I took them at their word. I wrote a follow up post, again urging people to buy a coat and send it over to AAU. I'll write an additional post today. I plan to do another project in a few months, again harnessing the power of social media. I believe that raising excitement about charitable causes is a wonderful use for social media.

5 Possibilities for Services are Endless Organize a non food drive. I can still remember the taste of wheat and canned peaches, which we ate in our home, thanking God for the love and generosity of our brothers and sisters in the United States who had donated these life saving goods for their previous enemies. Sister Eternal A True Story told by Dieter F. Uchtdorf Refugees need household items such as: kitchen towels, hot pads, dish soap, laundry soap, hand soap, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste/brushes, toilet paper and diapers. Place the items in a laundry basket, garbage can or plastic storage container to be used by the family. This is a great service project for students, eagle projects, neighborhoods, etc. Infant and children s clothing drive: gather gently used clothing to be washed and sorted. Match up outfits and place them in a zip lock bag. Label the bag with the age and sex of the clothing. If possible add a pair of new socks and underwear. This is a great project for children and youth groups of all ages. Apartment set up for a newly arriving refugee family: Gather household items needed to start life in America. Great family, corporate activity. Coordinated through local refugee resettlement offices.