INTERFAITH LOS ALAMOS NEWS RELEASE

Interfaith Los Alamos is having its Refugee Coat / Gift Card Drive starting Nov. 4 through Nov. 24 LAST DAY to drop off.

Anyone can join us. You don’t have to belong to a church. Despite her deep faith, Kate Massengale is not a member of a church, but she loves working with the faithful in Los Alamos, who have giving hearts.

It’s that time of year when Interfaith Los Alamos  collects coats for the legal refugees/asylees Lutheran Family Services helps relocate. With help from LFS they can thrive as citizens in New Mexico, finding shelter, food, and language/culture support, as well as work opportunities. 

Muhammad Munir has requested 120 coats for middle and high school students/ male and female. They will gratefully accept small children coats or adult coats but the real need is middle and high school sizes (small, medium, large). If the colors are somewhat neutral, they can go to either gender.

We are also collecting $25 gift cards to Walmart or Target to aid in purchasing shoes. Coats can be placed in boxes at select churches and  cards can be left with church administrative office or you can contact David Israelevitz at 505.412.9470.

As always, there will be drop boxes at a number of churches, including Bethlehem Lutheran and Trinity on the Hill Episcopal. I will reconfirm later, but I believe there may be boxes at White Rock United Methodist and the Unitarian Church, as well.

Once again, we want to say thank you to Los Alamos community members who participate to help people in our state experiencing a cold winter here, perhaps for the first time. Refugees have come from many countries, often after years at UN refugee camps, and are focused on starting new lives in America. Afghanistan, The Republic of Congo, Venezuela, and Ukraine are among the countries represented. 

Los Alamos can be proud of its giving spirit when there are so many needs out there these days. Thank you Kate Massengale, David Israelevitz and Leslie Wallstrom.