March 2013 Newsletter

March 2013

KRM’s Vision: To compassionately welcome displaced people from around the world.

Upcoming Eventsbeing by providing an atmosphere of hospitality, To encourage the hope that lives within each human responsiveness, mutual respect, trust and tolerance.

To be known for our reliability, resourcefulness, partnerships and comprehensive services.

Urgent Needs -Blankets -Winter coats -Kitchen tables

Upcoming Events

Follow up from our November Newsletter Our November newsletter included a story about one of our New Beginnings Youth Mentors., Through the mentorship, Kyle was teaching Jesus, a KRM client from Cuba, to play the guitar. In response to reading the article, one of our amazing volunteers, Lisa, contacted KRM to donate a guitar to Jesus. Cheers to Lisa for providing a great surprise to one of our refugee youth. Jesus is still enjoying lessons from his mentor, Kyle.

Running for Refugees Triple Crown Races -March 9, 5K -March 23, 10K -April 6, 10 miler Ali Shuffle -April 13, 10K Book and Bake Sale At the HPC KidsSale March 14, 15, 16 Volunteer Orientation April 2, 5:30pm KRM Golf Scramble June 15 Glenmary Country Club Global Gourmet September 20 Mellwood Art Center

Jesus with his new guitar!

New population for KRM In February, KRM received it’s first Rohingya family. The Rohingya are an ethnic, linguistic and religious minority from Arakan State in Burma.

According to the United Nations, they are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Please click here to learn more about the Rohingya.

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By the Numbers 1 KRM is the largest refugee resettlement agency in the state of Kentucky.

14 Louisville (Jefferson County) is the 14th largest recipient of refugees in the United States.

Governor’s Volunteer Awards Kentucky Refugee Ministries is ever-so-grateful to all our volunteers, who help keep us running smoothly. Of course, there are always those few superstars who go above and beyond, and make us all look good.

Congratulations to the 3 volunteers and 1 group who we have nominated for this year's Governor's Volunteer Awards! (http://chfs.ky.gov/dfrcvs/kccvs/govawards.htm)

67 Number of KRM staff members

-Mike Puckett (Volunteer Service Award), for his work with CoSponsorship, the ESL program, Driver's Ed classes, and the KRM Board of Directors -Robert Torralba (Lifetime Achievement Award), for his 4+ years of work with the Family Life Center -Michaela Vaillant (Volunteer Service Award), for her innovative work with the Refugee Elder Program -The Ali Scholars at the University of Louisville (Non-Profit Organization Award) for their work organizing the Operation Dignity donations drive, the Day of Dignity at the Ali Center, their work as CoSponsors, and for supporting our Community Outreach Drive for Volunteers

600 Number of jobs found for (Louisville) KRM clients in 2012

We won't find out until the end of March who the finalists are... but we are so excited to have been able to nominate such excellent volunteers, and we sincerely wish all our nominees the best - you've all already won in our eyes!

1161 Number of client arrivals in 2012.

Co-Sponsorship We would like to thank our current co-sponsorship teams:

17 Number of languages spoken by KRM staff

10,000+ Number of clients KRM has served since 1990.

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Beargrass Christian Church Fourth Avenue United Methodist Church St. Thomas Episcopal Church

Thank you for all you do for welcoming our newest arrivals!

If you are interested in learning more about co-sponsorship, please contact Lee Welsh at lwelsh@kyrm.org.

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Running for Refugees 2013

Please join us in helping Kentucky Refugee Ministries raise money to assist in the resettlement of refugees to our great state of Kentucky.

Team RFR will be running the Kentucky Derby Festival Triple Crown of Races in the spring and you can help us by, donating, joining our team to run, being a KRM Ambassador or simply by passing on the word through your network of connections. Please visit https://kyrm.org/2013running-for-refugees/ and http://running-for-refugees.blogspot.com/ for more information.

1-Team 3 Great Races – For A Great Cause   

March 9: Anthem 5K Fitness Classic | 5K (3.1 miles) run/walk March 23: Rodes City Run 10K | 10 K (6.2 miles) run/walk April 6: Papa John’s 10 Miler | 10 mile run/walk

Team RFR is also proud to be part of the upcoming 2nd annual Ali Shuffle 10k Run-Walk that honors Muhammad Ali's life and promotes his legacy of peace building and compassion.  April 13: Ali Shuffle 10K Run-Walk Thank you to KRM board member, Kevin Hissong, for getting Running for Refugees “off and running!”

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U of L Ali Scholars host Hello Neighbor! Day of Dignity and Compassion On November 10, 2012 the Ali Scholars from the University of Louisville Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Justice and their staff sponsors hosted a community wide event to raise awareness of refugee resettlement in Louisville KY and promote Dignity and Compassion for all. The celebrations included music, food, education and resource sharing and an enormous drive for donations for Kentucky Refugee Clients.

The Scholars organized a month long donations drive prior to the event and admissions for the festivities were donations of household items or warm blankets to be donated to refugees. Community partners including LG&E, Islamic Relief Fund and the nearly 2000 visitors to the Muhammad Ali Center donated toiletries kits, school supplies, light bulbs, household items, and furniture.

In addition to the donations drive and Day of Dignity event the Ali Scholars have served as cosponsors to two Burmese clients. They have collected furniture, set up their apartment and have supported them as neighbors and friends as they adjust to living in the US. Like other cosponsors and volunteers, the Scholars have truly made a difference in the lives of refugees. We are blessed to have community partners like the Ali Scholars. Because of their hard work Kentucky Refugee Ministries (between the Day of Dignity event and the Donations Drive) received the equivalent of more than $50,000 in donations that will support our clients and families in the Louisville area. We are grateful for their service and for the wildly successful Day of Dignity and Compassion.

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Share Some Love and School Supplies!

Thank you to all of you that donated to the February supply drive last month to benefit KRM Youth and Elder Services. We are still in need of these items. Please click here to view the flyer to find out more about much needed items for these programs.

KRM Calendar (March & April 2013) -March 4-15: new Adult Mentor program begins at KRM -March 5 @ 5:30pm: next Volunteer Orientation -March 8: International Women's Day -March 9: Anthem 5k Fitness Classic - Running for Refugees, 1st Triple Crown race -March 10: new Citizenship class scheduled to start at Crescent Hill Baptist Church -March 10: Spring forward! Daylight savings time -March 14-16: Kids' Consignment Sale and KRM Book and Bake Sale Fundraiser, Highland Presbyterian Church -March 20: Ali's Louisville? Making a Compassionate City - Ali Scholars, setting practical goals for a Compassionate Louisville -March 23: Rodes City Run 10k - Running for Refugees, 2nd Triple Crown race -March 30: 2012 Governor's Volunteer Awards - we find out if our nominees have won!

-April 2 @ 5:30pm: Volunteer Orientation -April 5: Papa John's 10 Miler - Running for Refugees, 3rd Triple Crown race -April 13: Ali Shuffle - Running for Refugees, Ali Scholars' 10k Run/Walk -April 13-21: Mayor's "Give a Day" Week of Service (including April 13 and April 20 volunteering opportunity at KRM's Warehouse) Contact Us: Kentucky Refugee Ministries 969B Cherokee Road Louisville, KY 40204 (502-479-9180) www.kyrm.org

KRM is an Episcopal Migration Ministries and Church World Service affiliate.

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