It’s a new school year. We have a school to go to, but millions of Syrian kids don’t. Please, send a message of hope and let someone know they are not alone.

William was graciously invited to speak about Any Refugee with a local think tank at the University of Alaska Anchorage where the topic of the day was Anchorage’s refugee community.  He was well received and many people from different agencies and organizations approached William afterward to network and get contact information to share with people they know across the state.  William is ready for more postcards and Outreach events like this.

If you, like representatives from Catholic Social Services and the Anchorage School District, are interested in participating…please do.  Share Any Refugee with your friends, family, community. Invite William to speak at your school, business or organization.  We are one big community and love for our fellow man transcends language barriers.

This was most of the crowd that attended the think tank (William is located at the lower left-hand corner of the picture-eagerly awaiting his introduction).  There were some more people sitting with William, but they were accidentally left out.

William at the beginning of his talk.

Having to adjust the sound to register his nine-year-old voice.

During the question and answer time.  He was asked really good questions about Any Refugee’s origins, current participants and why William believes in his project so much.  He answered them with ease and a charmed tone (his words, not mine).

Thank you to Catholic Social Services and the organizers of the meeting for inviting William to speak.  It made his day and he looks forward to putting his new contacts to use.

Sincerely,

William’s Mom (with William’s permission)

This afternoon my dad drove me over to Catholic Social Services so I could deliver the first batch of postcards.  KTUU was there, too!  We only had school three days this week so there weren’t many that were done, but my mom wrapped them with a red ribbon and I gave them to Susan Bomalaski, who will get them to refugee kids who have been resettled here in Alaska.  Good things start small!  You can see some of the finished cards here.

KTVA came to PNA yesterday and did an awesome report on Any Refugee.  Thank you for coming, Ms Maxwell!

Today was a great day.  I spoke to the 7th and 8th grade class in the morning and then the 1st and the 4th graders in the afternoon.  Every student at PNA will be painting an Any Refugee postcard.

Tomorrow is the first day of Any Refugee. Kids at my school will be painting and writing postcards in art class. I’ll post pictures!