Our program has been blessed recently with wonderful holiday donations from local parishes and churches. Joan Goebel Holmgren of St. Pius organized a coat drive that produced twenty bags of gently used coats and three large boxes of brand new children’s coats. Gail Kingsley of St. Mary’s Cathedral spear-headed the annual drive to put together twenty-eight baskets overflowing with household items, all wrapped in the softest blankets imaginable. Dana Regan of First Unitarian Church’s youth group coordinated the creation of seven large Thanksgiving boxes bulging with traditional American treats.
Equally important, Warner Pacific College and the Door of Hope church have pledged to help our refugee clients on an on-going basis. Warner Pacific students studying with Dr. Cassie Trentaz are fulfilling their service requirement by helping us collect donations, set up apartments for new arrivals, straighten out our always-messy storage unit and, in some cases, helping new families learn English. The Door of Hope has already donated a Welcome Kit, an immense box filled with almost everything a family needs to get started in their new home, and they’ve agreed to gather other donations as needed.
Helping hands like these not only provide our newly arrived families with basic items like food and clothes, but also send a resounding welcome to men, women and children who may not have felt welcomed anywhere in the world.
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