Week-long celebration of refugees and their contribution to the Knoxville community
Knoxville, Tennessee: Bridge Refugee Services, the only resettlement agency in East Tennessee, (Knoxville and Chattanooga) is hosting a week of festivities related to World Refugee Day. These festivities aim to celebrate the diversity and contributions of refugees in the Knoxville area and the supportive welcoming community. The main event in Knoxville for World Refugee Day is on Saturday June 17th 2017. Bridge will be hosting the event on site at 3839 Buffat Mill Road Knoxville, TN 37914. It will run from 6pm-8pm. The days leading up to and after the event are also full of family fun such as film festivals, open houses and other opportunities to engage with the local refugee community, the full event schedule can be found on our Facebook page.
The main event on the 17th features international food, dancing, and kids games and is free and open to the public. We will be featuring special speaking guest Jana Mason, senior advisor for external relations and government affairs from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), we are very pleased to welcome her to Knoxville! Our motto this year is #yallmeansall, to that end as we celebrate with local “new Americans” from around the world, who will be in attendance to share in our community, we invite Knoxville to continue our welcoming tradition, and share in the fun!
About Bridge Refugee Services: Our mission is to provide opportunities for refugees to rebuild their lives, after suffering persecutions, so that they become productive, contributing members of the community. All refugees are victims of persecution (for their religion, political opinion, ethnicity, LGBT status or are victims of war and violence) who have been forced to flee their home countries and who left everything they cherished behind. Bridge also serves Special Immigrant Visa holders who worked with the US army abroad. The three pillars of refugee integration are: learning English, employment, and community engagement. Bridge thanks all donors, volunteers and community partners who support Bridge to live our values of welcoming and hospitality.
