What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.
~ Albert Pine
May each of us create a future so that our children and our children's children will grow up knowing that our world will only be better than when we found it. As my friend's father shared with me recently, "We must not forget that we are interdependent and my existence is a product of your existence."
Happy Happy Thanksgiving!
Home Away From Home 2010
Home Away From Home celebrated its third year thanksgiving tradition in welcoming newly arrived refugees and immigrants to our community this past Saturday. There were over 100 attendees celebrating, giving thanks and sharing stories. Special thanks to Matt Sanford (opening song), Eliana, Emma Jane, Mary, Justin, Orlando and the Bhutanese dancers for their wonderful performances. Yi-cheng, our master of ceremonies, gracefully entertained us throughout the whole event. We had two yummy turkeys, my mom's famous eggrolls, and lots of homemade goodies. Again, we are truly grateful for the Blessed Sacrament Parrish in allowing us to hold this wonderful event for free ;) Also, thank you Orlando for inviting the Home Away From Home attendees and the refugees resettled by the International Rescue Committee to watch the Christmas Carol-Musical for free at 5th Avenue theater!
Words cannot fully express how grateful I am to family and friends with their generosity and support. You made this event a huge success and the difference has been made. Special thanks to Elijah! And may we continue to forward Linda Golley's request to smile and welcome each other as we celebrate 2010 Thanksgiving week and the years to come.
Home Away From Home 2009
Our 2nd Annual Home Away From Home Thanksgiving Event welcomed newly arrived refugees from Bhutan, who lived the past several years in a refugee camp in Nepal, and also a family from Vietnam. The world map indicated members in our community at the event who are from: Bhutan, Bosnia, China, Ethiopia, Germany, Guam, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Nepal, Peru, Philippines, Somalia, Vietnam, and several cities from the United States.
Thank you to all who brought food and drinks shared by over 70 people to make this year's event so successful. Special thanks to the Blessed Sacrament Church for allowing us to use their Parrish Hall, to our talented musicians (Matt, Irene, Andy and Rodney), to Yi-Cheng (our distinguished emcee), to Linda from the UWMC interpreter services, to the open mic performers (Amy, Joseph, Orlando, Matt and Irene), to Edgar for our venue layout, and to everyone who helped in set-up and clean-up. Lastly, thank you to Matt B. who flew in from Boise, and Jim R. who drove 4 hours from Brewster, WA to be with us. All of your contributions and commitments are deeply appreciated.
As Mitra shared during his testament about his experience being a Bhutanese refugee in Nepal,
"U.S.A. can also stand for U Start Again."
This country does represent and provide a great opportunity.
Home Away From Home 2008
Thank you, a thousand times over ... to all who came to the event and celebrated the spirit of thanksgiving with us. We welcomed three refugee families who recently arrived from Nepal, and some originally from Bhutan. The most recent was just six weeks ago. We had several immigrants as well who came as we welcomed each and everyone of us to our community.
Lots of great food and especially desserts!!!! Thank you to all who performed and we will be posting the pictures from the event soon. I can't thank enough all of you who assisted in making this event truly a Home Away From Home :) The donated goods hosted by Makipag will be given to Real Change. There were several request to make it an annual event so please keep the Saturday before thanksgiving 2009 free :)
"I just wanted to say thank you for putting together the Home Away From Home event. I had a good time interacting with everyone and hopefully we'll get the word out to that community about Al shifa.Lots of great food and especially desserts!!!! Thank you to all who performed and we will be posting the pictures from the event soon. I can't thank enough all of you who assisted in making this event truly a Home Away From Home :) The donated goods hosted by Makipag will be given to Real Change. There were several request to make it an annual event so please keep the Saturday before thanksgiving 2009 free :)
Enjoy the rest of the weekend and have a great thanksgiving next week!"
Danna
danna.lei@gmail.com
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