This Valentine's Day, trade in your roses and fancy restaurant reservations and show some love for your community instead.
A new campaign called Refugees Welcome❤️ — heart and all — offers tips and resources to help you host a Valentine's Day dinner for refugees in your neighborhood. The website, RefugeesWelcomeToDinner.com, includes a toolkit complete with talking points, name tags and social media graphics, all in an effort to foster a much-needed cultural dialogue.
SEE ALSO:This app connects refugees to volunteer translators via Facebook Messenger"Refugees Welcome❤️ is an effort to bring folks from refugee and non-refugee backgrounds around a table to break bread and break barriers," the site reads.
The goal is to use food as a way to share experiences and build community.
Credit: REFUGEESWELCOMETODINNER.COMIf you're interested in hosting a dinner, the toolkit offers a checklist of things to do, from keeping a guest list for future events to sharing photos on social media. There are even sample questions for the table to keep the conversation going, like, "What was everyone's favorite food growing up?" and "What was the first dish you prepared on your own?"
You can contact local organizations to find refugee families who might be interested in joining you. In the U.S., there's a handy map of services in each state, and the International Rescue Committee can help you find ways to connect with refugees in your area.
Tweet may have been deleted
There are also pop-up restaurants that already put a twist on this idea, like Mazí Mas in London, run entirely by migrant and refugee mothers, and Newcomer Kitchen in Toronto, where Syrian refugee women cook meals sold online. European nonprofit United Invitations helps set up dinners with immigrants and refugees all year, and also offers tips for "how to turn strangers into dinner companions."
If you can't host a dinner this year — putting everything together in one day is no small feat, after all — you can still participate. Share your support online with the site's pre-made images and the hashtag #RefugeesWelcome❤️ . You can also use the wider hashtag #RefugeesWelcome (sans heart), which started trending in September 2015 and has become a rallying cry in support of refugees.
Credit: REFUGEESWELCOMETODINNER.COM
Credit: REFUGEESWELCOMETODINNER.COM
Credit: REFUGEESWELCOMETODINNER.COMThe global refugee crisis is still at record highs. There are currently more than 65.3 million people forcibly displaced around the world, 21.3 million of whom are refugees. Half of those refugees are children.
Negative rhetoric around refugees continues to escalate, especially in the U.S. In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations and indefinitely barring Syrian refugees from entering the country. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against reinstating Trump's ban soon after, but the lives of many refugees continue to hang in the balance — and the treatment of refugees resettled in the U.S. remains shaky.
"Today, we are witnessing the highest levels of displacement the world has ever seen," the Refugees Welcome❤️ site reads. "By creating a space to share food and conversation, we hope to build greater solidarity within communities."
[H/T Global Citizen]
TopicsSocial Good
(责任编辑：休閑)
The five guys who climbed Australia's highest mountain, in swimwearNicki Minaj shares that she has been quietly helping to develop a village in IndiaWhy I refuse to delete old, unused apps from my iPhoneHow 'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt' pulled off a flawless 'Lemonade' tributeDressage horse dancing to 'Smooth' by Santana wins gold for chillest horseWhen Honda revealed its stunning and grandparent-scaring Civic Hatchback Prototype earlier this year
...[详细]Apple's new ad takes us to a New Orleans barber shop — with one familiar guest
Apple's latest ad is about a New Orleans barber shop that gets a viral boost thanks to some well-pla
...[详细]Instagram and Snapchat don't pay. Patreon does and it's growing like crazy.
There's money in those grainy homemade podcasts. 。Patreon, a platform where DIY creators can crowdsou
...[详细]Amazing pictures of Chris Cornell's final concert will break your heart
Chris Cornell was one of the most charismatic, powerful singers of his generation, the one that arch
...[详细]Florida hurricane forecast remains uncertain, but trends in state's favor
For days, a war has been raging between two of the premiere computer models used to help predict the
...[详细]All the best family photos from Pippa Middleton's decadent wedding
On Saturday, Pippa Middleton married hedge fund manager James Matthews. Now, of course, the internet
...[详细]Harry Styles is the king of answering questions in the vaguest terms possible
Harry Styles is a handsome cloud of a boy softly slipping through the ether. Heralded as mysterious
...[详细]
The "Pill Cosby" cocktail didn’t last long on a bar menu after the internet found out about it
...[详细]U.S. pole vaulter skids to a halt for national anthem
An American pole vaulter took his patriotism to the next level at the Olympics. 。Sam Kendricks, a sec
...[详细]Grammarly raises $110 million to check your typos and grammar mistakes
Investors are betting big on spelling mistakes and misshapen sentences.
。San Francisco startup Gramma
...[详细]What brands need to know about virtual reality
Fixing the 'broken internet' with Amanda Palmer and Patreon