Friday, December 18, 2015

ANNOUNCING IRP SPONSORSHIP PROJECT ...



FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE

Contact: Reverend Connie Thompson, Project Chair: (604) 853-0801
or
Donald Strangway, Communications Chair: (778) 808-5835



ABBOTSFORD  INTERFAITH  GROUP  SPONSORS   
REFUGEE  FAMILY

The Abbotsford Interfaith Movement (AIM) has spearheaded a project to bring a refugee family to Abbotsford. The project has been met with great enthusiasm, and has brought together more than 20 people of diverse backgrounds, talents, and religious affiliations. This particular initiative of AIM is called the Interfaith Refugee Project (IRP).
Some of the services IRP will provide to our refugee family include helping them fill out paperwork and liaising with appropriate government agencies. We will also provide support in arranging medical, dental, and counseling services, in addition to setting up their housing, helping with their budgets, and continuing to fund-raise to cover their living expenses.
IRP will draw on the many resources throughout Abbotsford’s diverse community, knowing that our “City in the Country” has so much to offer. Some of our local business leaders have already pledged their support through generous discounts on household items that must be purchased new. Through everyone’s hospitality and ongoing assistance, we hope our newly-arrived family will feel the warmth of an Abbotsford welcome.
This generous outpouring will ensure a smooth transition into the community, as our family adapts to their new life in Canada. But although our project will provide for their basic needs, we anticipate that an initial language barrier will create some challenges. And until we know the actual language requirements of our sponsored family, we will be unable to cover this one remaining element. With that in mind, we are inviting bilingual people in the community to volunteer as potential translators, so that in a timely manner we can ultimately match our family with appropriate language resources.
Our group always welcomes new members, so if you or someone you know can offer any kind of assistance with this humanitarian project, please contact us at your earliest convenience. For more information or offers of help, please e-mail us at: revconnie@hotmail.com.
If you can’t commit your time, but you still want to help, financial donations are gratefully accepted, and donations of $20.00 or more will receive a charitable donation receipt.
Donations of Cash, Cheque, or Credit Cards*:
Make cheques payable to:
Gladwin Heights United Church
Designated for Interfaith Refugee Project (IRP)
3474 Gladwin Road, Abbotsford, BC V2S 7B4
Other ways to donate include:
For e-transfers, our e-mail address is:
ifaithrefugeeproject@gmail.com.

Visit our blog page often for updates and photographs of our sponsored family:

www.interfaithrefugeeproject.blogspot.com   


*Although we are able to accept cash, cheques, e-transfers, and Credit Cards, we would prefer not to use Credit Cards because of the banking charges they would incur. Our goal is to keep our administrative costs under 2%, so that more than 98% of donations will be used to support our refugee family.

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