Thread: Tickets on sale for fundraising dinner to benefit immigrants

Tickets on sale for fundraising dinner to benefit immigrants
By Julie Wurth
Friday, February 20, 2009 8:03 AM CDT

URBANA – Business is as brisk as ever at the East Central Illinois Refugee Mutual Assistance Center, where immigrants feel the pain of the recession just like other Americans.

"They lose their jobs like anybody else. They are faced with a crisis because they can't pay their rent or mortgage," said co-director Anh Ha Ho.

The center's clientele continues to grow – about 2,600 a year – even as funding gets tight. It is again asking the community for support with an international fundraiser next weekend.

The Second Annual Refugee Center Fundraising Dinner is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. Feb. 28 at St. Patrick Catholic Church, 708 W. Main St., U. The evening will feature a silent auction and international cuisine, wine and entertainment.

Last year's inaugural dinner raised about $12,000 for the center, Ho said.

"We wanted to create an awareness in the community about what the refugee and immigrant cause is. Not everyone understands it," she said.

Founded in 1982, the center works with immigrant families, refugees, foreign students and American citizens who have limited English skills. Staff members help them find housing, transportation, grocery stores, schools for their children, jobs, English classes and child-care services. Translators interpret at doctor's appointments, court hearings and meetings with teachers, landlords or employers. A citizenship program helps legal permanent residents apply for U.S. citizenship.

Most clients are from Central America, Southeast Asia, Russia and the Congo, and translation services are available in French, Vietnamese, Spanish, Russian, Cantonese, Mandarin, Lao, German and Russian.

The center, 302 S. Birch St., U, gets funding from the Champaign County Mental Health Board, United Way of Champaign County, city of Urbana, Jewish Family Services in Chicago, the Illinois Coalition for Refugee and Immigrant Rights, and local donors. Its $180,000 budget supports five to six full-time-equivalent employees.

"Our funders would like us to become more independent," Ho said.

About 200 tickets are available for the dinner, at $60 apiece. That covers a menu of Peruvian, Vietnamese, Chinese, African, Middle Eastern and Mexican cuisine, plus wine. Entertainment includes a dragon dance, Congolese choir, Vietnamese dancers, steel band, Brazilian martial arts and tango dancers.

Doors open at 6:15 p.m. Advance reservations are required; cash and checks will be accepted. For information, call the center at 344-8455.


http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/ ... immigrants

Say, why won't this church sponsor a benefit dinner to help American people that have lost their jobs to illegals?

Hey, I'm all for helping immigrants!
It's the GD ILLEGAL immigrants that need to go.
Raise some money to ship their butts down home again!!!

I'm sure this stupid author meant ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS!!!!