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
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
Designated for Interfaith Refugee Project (IRP)
3474 Gladwin Road, Abbotsford, BC V2S 7B4
Other ways to donate include:
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.
– 30 –
No comments:
Post a Comment