Los Angeles, CA, June 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Miry’s List, a nonprofit organization serving families who have recently resettled in the United State as refugees from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, is pleased to announce a unique 2020 World Refugee Day Awards celebration. The goal of the June 20, 2020 event is to raise $50,000 to help 100 more refugee families that have urgent needs due to COVID-19.
“The resettling families we serve, who are often low-income or otherwise part of high-risk populations, are uniquely vulnerable in the current COVID-19 crisis,” said Miry’s List Founder & Executive Director Miry Whitehill. “Each year on June 20th, World Refugee Day honors those who are and have experienced migration and resettlement. On this World Refugee Day, we have re-invented our event and goals to adhere to safe-at-home regulations, safety and efficiently help resettling refugee families with urgent needs.”
On June 20, 2020, Miry's List supporters in Los Angeles will join for a “New Arrival Supper Club at Home'' event to celebrate and support resettling families. The updated supper club experience, in partnership with Spread Kitchen in Los Angeles, features a safe-at-home family lunch prepared by Maaysa and Abdul Kanjo of Syria, available for curbside pick-up or delivered right to your door in downtown Los Angeles. Participants will enjoy lunch virtually with KCRW’s Evan Kleiman at the event on June 20, or the following day June 21 for Father’s Day.
“Our COVID-19 response program is focused on two critical areas: providing supplies such as masks, gloves, bedding and cleaning supplies to families to safely isolate in their homes as well as providing devices for students to access their classrooms remotely,” said Whitehill. “We have been so grateful to partners like NorthStar Moving Company who donated 1,000 non-medical face masks and gloves at the exact moment we needed them. Now we're calling on our entire global community of partners, donors, volunteers, supporters and allies to pitch in to help us reach our goal.”
At the live Facebook event, Miry's List will present the 2020 Ana Huna Awards to Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis, Actor & Writer Mara Wilson and two Polytechnic School 2020 graduates, Saya Desai and Luisa Breen.
Honoree Supervisor Solis will receive the 2020 Ana Huna Leadership Award for outstanding leadership in demonstrating to Americans just how welcoming we can be for new arrival families in America. Supervisor Solis has a long history of supporting resettling Angelenos and in May presented a motion to council declaring June Refugee Awareness Month in Los Angeles
Honoree Mara Wilson will receive the 2020 Ana Huna Renegade Award for embodying the renegade spirit to face unsolvable problems with fierceness, dedication, kindness and being a beacon for others who want to help. Mara volunteers as a Miry’s List family ambassador, and has helped dozens of resettling families get their first home in the United States set up to be functional and comfortable.
Honorees Saya and Luisa will receive the 2020 Ana Huna Fire-Starter Award for being the spark to identify the need for change and empower people to help. These remarkable students focused their senior capstones on helping refugees and co-founded Breaking Boundaries, an on-campus club connecting students with opportunities to support and learn about refugees around the world and in Los Angeles.
In addition, the event will include a live musical performance by teenager Delan Younes of Syria, and captivating speakers including Ahmed Abedy, Rabia Ahmadi, Abdul Ghafoor, Mara Wilson, Evan Kleiman, Milana Vayntrub and Miry Whitehill.
To register to attend the 2020 Miry’s List World Refugee Day Awards and reserve a New Arrival Supper Club at Home, please visit: bit.ly/2020worldrefugeeday.
The need for Miry's List programming has increased since the start of COVID-19. Tax-deductible contributions support their core programming so the non-profit can help 100 more resettling families in 2020.
About Miry’s List
Refugee families come to the United States seeking a safe haven from violence and persecution in their home countries. They leave behind family and friends, as well as virtually everything they own. Many Americans, seeing these families in their communities, wonder: What can I do to help? Miry's List provides a mechanism for people to directly help new arrival refugee families with the things that they need to get started in their new lives – from diapers to beds to cleaning supplies and toiletries.
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