Dear St Jude:

On behalf of Catholic Charities of Dallas, I would like to thank you and all the kids from St. Jude for your generous donations of house-hold goods for our Refugee & Empowerment Services division. I am completely overwhelmed by the generosity of the donations that came in today! Your donations are a truly compassionate gift that will go toward assisting needy refugee families who recently resettled in Dallas. Those house-hold items will go toward setting up apartments for our new arrival families and the generosity of your students will touch their lives in immeasurable ways. Please thank all the kids from the St Jude Youth Ministries for their compassion and commitment to Catholic Charities of Dallas and our clients.

Gratefully,
Robin Al-haddad

St. Jude Youth sort and deliver donations to Catholic Charities during their Mission Week.

This ministry works closely with the Refugee and Empowerment division of Catholic Charities to help newly arriving refugees in the Dallas area. Volunteers can help in various ways, including visiting families we have been asked to mentor, setting up apartments for newly arriving refugees, participating in drives for specific items needed by families and other activities sponsored by Catholic Charities.

There are 35 volunteers with 10 active from the beginning. They have successfully assisted four families, consisting of over 50 people from four different African nations – Burundi, Southern Sudan, the Republic of Congo, and Somalia. We will soon be taking on a new family.

As more refugee families locate to the Dallas area, there is a need for household items for apartment set ups. The following is a list of items needed for an apartment setup:

• Pots and pans
• Large cooking pots
• Towels
• Blankets (twin, full, queen)
• Alarm clocks
• Laundry detergent
• Shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, razors, shaving cream
• Shower curtain liners & rings
• Diapers (all sizes) – *ongoing need by families

If you wish to donate items, please leave with the office during regular office hours and our refugee ministry members will deliver them to the refugee and empowerment services office in Dallas.

Contact: Michael Murtha