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Announcement

An international Thanksgiving in Atlanta

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This Thanksgiving, we are thankful for communities making #RefugeesWelcome.

On Saturday November 23, IRC in Atlanta staff, clients, volunteers and community supporters gathered at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church for our 18th annual Thanksgiving Feast. For many of our newly-arrived refugee families this was their first experience of an American Thanksgiving, and we extend our heartfelt thanks to our friends from Hamzah Islamic Center and Unitarian Universalist Metro Atlanta North (UUMAN) for providing an abundance of food and entertainment, making it a celebration to remember for years to come.

A large church gym hall is filled with circular tables, each with diverse groups of families, volunteers and IRC staff eating together. Two large long banquet tables in the center of the room are filled with Thanksgiving food as people serve themselves.
Photo: Arvin Temkar

Did you know? In 2019, the IRC in Atlanta welcomed 555 refugees from 19 countries to a new home in Georgia.

Not only did Hamzah and UUMAN provide a delicious, traditional Thanksgiving meal for attendees—thanks to a generous donation of non-perishable food items from I Care Atlanta and a donated harvest of beautiful fresh produce from Concrete Jungle—all of our refugee families were able to take multiple bags of food home!

Thank you to photographer, Arvin Temkar, for capturing the spirit of our international Thanksgiving so beautifully. From our IRC family to yours, we hope you have a wonderful holiday season.

Four people help themselves to trays of Thanksgiving food - two young women from the IRC in Atlanta's youth program, as well as a father and his son.
Photo: Arvin Temkar
An older couple serve soft drinks over a table to a diverse group of Thanksgiving Feast attendees.
Photo: Arvin Temkar
Two young women sit at a table covered in art supplies, one is wearing hijab and one is not. The young woman wearing hijab draws an intricate henna design on the other young woman's hand.
Photo: Arvin Temkar
A man and a woman help themselves to food from large banquet tables. The woman's young daughter stands between them, her head barely visible over the edge of the table.
Photo: Arvin Temkar
Four small children under five years old sit around a circular table waiting for their meal. One boy in the center of the photo is leaning across the table and gazing directly into the camera with big brown eyes.
Photo: Arvin Temkar
The IRC's volunteer coordinator, Duncan, presents the volunteer of the year award to volunteer Bob Gordon, an older gentleman wearing an IRC t-shirt. Duncan is holding his young son who is dressed as Spiderman.
Photo: Arvin Temkar
The photo is over a young boys shoulder, he is coloring a Thanksgiving scene of a turkey beside some pumpkins with crayons.
Photo: Arvin Temkar
Two young women from the IRC in Atlanta's youth programs dance energetically together, side by side, as part of the entertainment portion of the Thanksgiving Feast.
Photo: Arvin Temkar
A young woman from the IRC in Atlanta's youth program holds a microphone in one hand as she sings passionately to attendees as part of the entertainment portion of the feast.
Photo: Arvin Temkar
IRC's Logistics Manager, Amal, smiles as she holds and plays with a co-worker's baby, who is sitting on one of the tables.
Photo: Arvin Temkar
A girl, around seven years of age, colors a picture with crayons. She is wearing a denim jacket and a large rainbow ribbon in her hair. Other girls sit close to her in the background of the picture.
Photo: Arvin Temkar
Two young women from the IRC's Youth programs dance, side by side as part of the entertainment portion of the feast. They are wearing brightly colored knitwear and are smiling and laughing together.
Photo: Arvin Temkar
A teenage girl and her younger brother dance and laugh together, other feast attendees dance and laugh in the background of the image.
Photo: Arvin Temkar
A group of women in colorful hijabs jump in the air, smile and clap their hands to music. Two young boys dance in the center of the photo. The end of the feast turned into a group dance party!
Photo: Arvin Temkar
Women in colorful hijabs dance together, in the center of the image, Hawa, a student in the IRC's adult education programs, smiles as she raises her arm in the air and points her figure. The dance party is in full swing!
Photo: Arvin Temkar

To learn more about the work of the IRC in Atlanta and for information on how you can get involved with the IRC as a donor or volunteer, please contact Development Manager, Kalie Lasiter, at Kalie.Lasiter [at] Rescue.org or 678-636-8941.

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