Dear {{First Name}},
Happy back to school season, everyone. We are excited to see more than 240 students from our new neighbors start the school year. Thank you to our community partners, school districts, teachers, and parents who are all working hard to make the start of the school year a little smoother.
Five Years Since the Fall of Kabul
Five years ago, Canopy was a young organization with eleven staff, navigating through the impacts of the COVID pandemic and starting to resettle refugees again. Then, in August 2021, the US withdrew from Afghanistan and Kabul fell to the Taliban.
Thousands of Afghans raced to the airport in an emergency evacuation. And those planes were coming… here.
Suddenly, a small refugee resettlement agency turned into a crisis response operation. It was not smooth and it was not easy, but we kept trying. Bolstered by the outpouring of support from the community, maybe we didn’t move mountains, but we sure did move a lot of furniture.
In Northwest Arkansas, so many members of this community welcomed a stranger in the most literal and meaningful way. People opened their homes to host an individual or family right off the plane, provided months of free rent at their AirBnBs, and donated meals, clothing and so much more.
We are still in touch with many of the people who suddenly landed in our community after fleeing Afghanistan, and many have rebuilt their lives here over the past five years. They are your colleagues, employees and bosses. You go to their businesses. You have walked alongside them at high school and college graduation. And there are only more good things to come from what these new neighbors are still building here.
For one Afghan’s personal perspective, please read my colleague Khalid’s reflection here.
Thank you again for standing with our new neighbors and Canopy. We are thankful for a community like this.
If you are interested in volunteering with Canopy, please take a look at the volunteer opportunities below. And if you would like to preorder a meal from the amazing crew at Inspired Hands, plan to pick up Colombian, Afghan, or Libyan food for dinner in the weeks ahead.
Regards,
Joanna Krause
Executive Director |
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