BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4.3//EN TZID:America/New_York X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VEVENT UID:91@agudatachim.com DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230225T091500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230225T120000 DTSTAMP:20230215T165652Z URL:https://www.agudatachim.com/events/refugee-shabbat-with-hias/ SUMMARY:HIAS Immigration Shabbat DESCRIPTION:HIAS Shabbat: Lifting Up Immigrants\nCongregation Agudat Achim will host an Immigrant Shabbat on Saturday\, February 25.\n\nThis year’s program will focus on Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County Program (LVORC) and how it is meeting the needs of adults and out-of-school teens \, for whom English is not their native language\, and who need assistance in reading\, writing and English-speaking skills. It also will speak to t he larger value of supporting immigrants in their quest for learning and h ow congregants can help meet those needs. Agudat Achim is assisting LVOR C to increase the availability of volunteer tutors and classes in the Sche nectady area to meet current demand.\n\nThe event is inspired by HIAS’ a nnual Refugee Shabbat\, a larger annual recognition in which congregations around the world dedicate a Sabbath experience to refugees and asylum see kers\, learn more about their needs\, and understand how individuals and c ongregations can help meet those needs. HIAS is the world’s oldest refug ee agency\, formally established as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in 19 02 to help fellow Jews fleeing pogroms in Eastern Europe. Today\, in keepi ng with the organization’s Jewish ethical roots\, HIAS is a multi-contin ent\, multi-pronged humanitarian aid and advocacy organization with thousa nds of employees dedicated to helping forcibly displaced persons around th e world.\n\nLooking for volunteers\nLiteracy Volunteers recruits and exten sively trains volunteers to be tutors\, who work either one-on-one or in s mall group instruction in reading and writing\, English as a new language\ , math\, financial literacy\, computer literacy\, workplace literacy\, cit izenship preparation and reading mentors for children in elementary school .\n\n“Our program is tailored to the specific needs of each student\,” said Executive Director Nancy Benz\, be it helping them study for a high school GED\, or learning the fundamentals of the English language to help them function more effectively in society. While LVORC currently has more than 140 volunteers\, it is not enough to meet the requests of the nearly 200 people who want to use LVORC’s free services. LVORC offers periodic training for new volunteers\, and Agudat Achim is hoping to engage members to support that effort\, especially in the Schenectady area.\n\nNancy Ben z will be speaking at the HIAS Shabbat\, along with a tutor who will share the impact that volunteering in the program has made on both the tutor an d student. The Congregation also will honor immigrant members of the congr egation. Any immigrant or child of an immigrant who would like to particip ate should contact Hillary Fink or Cathy Winter by Monday\, Feb. 20.\n\nCo ngregants can attend in person\, with Sabbath morning services starting at 9:15 am\, or via Live Stream. A kiddush luncheon will follow the service. The congregation is located at 2117 Union Street in Niskayuna\, NY.\n\nTh e event is sponsored by the Congregation Agudat Achim Social Action Commit tee. In sharing a goal of the committee\, former (and late) Chair Stephen Schechter\, noted\, “It is easy to forget that each refugee is a human b eing with a powerful story to tell. Perhaps by listening to\, and learning from the stories of others\, we can take one small step toward Tikkun Ola m\, or repairing the world\, in our small corner of it.”\n\n \; ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.agudatachim.com/wp-content/uploads/2 023/02/HIAS-rev-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20221106T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR