Support a Refugee Family for Christmas!

Support a Refugee Family for Christmas!

DONATE HERE

Help us help these amazing kids feel welcome in the USA for their first (cold!) Holiday Season!

Happy Holidays!

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

I love this quote but only agree with it 99%. I actually think the purpose of life IS to be happy so let me add to this quote slightly and say: I find that I am happiest when I am making a difference in the lives of others.

Let me tell you about an urgent situation where YOU (and I) get to be simultaneously useful AND, consequently, happy in helping a new refugee family here in the USA.

Their father is one of the Lost Boys of Sudan and came to the USA in 2001. As with nearly all refugees, his story is complicated and for those of us born here in the USA perhaps difficult to relate to, let alone follow, so let me just summarize it here:
  • He returned to Sudan around 2006 to get married and start his family. He now has 4 beautiful kids, 3 girls and a boy, all under 10 years old.
  • The violence in Sudan continues and these parents did what they needed to do to escape it and protect their family.
  • The 10 year-old son came to America in June of this year and the mom and 3 girls came here to Utah just one month ago.

This amazing father, a man who has seen so much violence and instability in his life took it on himself, without any initial assistance from BRIDGES, to get his family here and do his best to provide a life of peace and stability. He works hard as a medical technician and lives more frugally than most Americans would even recognize so that he may provide the basics for his family.

I visited this family (see picture above) last Saturday and my heart was instantly warmed at the site of the four children sitting at a modest kitchen table sharing a bag of chips smiling cautiously at me, an unknown stranger.

The parents and I discussed their most urgent needs and here is what they need, in order of priority

  • $1600 to repay the friend who loaned them money for the airfare so they could all enter the USA before their visas expired.
  • Winter coats/hats/gloves, etc. Only the boy has a coat and winter has already arrived here to Utah. And only the father has been through winter before. Imagine coming from the heat of Africa to your first winter without basic clothing to help manage it.
  • Crib/Baby Bed for the 2 year old. She sleeps with the parents for now and it’s less than ideal. She is the cutest, most outgoing 2 year-old I’ve ever met and her birthday is actually Christmas Day! What a gift this would be!
  • Basic furniture-coffee table, dressers, and washer & dryer. Additionally they would love a TV/DVD for entertainment, English exposure, and news.
  • The family is Christian and looks forward to celebrating Christmas but they have nothing, or very, very little, to buy gifts for their kids, who barely dare to hope for anything.

Will you please think about how YOU can help?

Will you find a way to step up and take this case to your company, your school, your church, or your youth group to get involved?

What a perfect way to celebrate the season of giving! You will be hard pressed to find a family more in need and more grateful for whatever they may receive.

We could use a local Utahan to help coordinate donations of goods and Christmas. Email me or call me (415.203.3763) to discuss getting involved.

Even if you aren’t in Utah there are multiple ways you can help:

  • Tax-deductible cash donations to help repay their loan and lessen the financial burden on this good father’s shoulders. Donate here;
  • Pay for any of the items above and I will do the shopping and delivery to the family with photos/video of it all for you to see the impact you have made. Email me with your ideas.

Let’s go do some good this season by providing basic help to a family in real need. Thank you!

DONATE HERE

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