Gather Housing Supplies for Arriving Refugees

Bridge Refugee Services continues to be a welcoming force for refugees residing in Knoxville, and we cannot do this without community support. We are always looking to restock our supply of donations of toiletries and cleaning supplies to provide material support for our refugee families to offset grocery costs.I would like to invite both individuals and groups to assist us through in-kind donation drives for household goods to help us welcome our newest neighbors. Toiletries, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, feminine hygiene items, school supplies--all are needed!We are launching a brand-new initiative this year to create sustainability and efficiency in our donations process, and charitable groups can help us by donating various housing kits. Your group can look through our brand new BRS Housing Kit Guide and pick a housing kit that speaks to your group, and then put together as many kits as you are able to. We do accept some items as gently used, like dishes, flatware, pots, and pans; but other items like bedding, towels, toiletries, etc. would need to be new.If you cannot commit to a whole kit, you can still donate any item(s) from this guide to support welcoming refugees to the Knoxville area! Even if you wanted to just collect new pillows or umbrellas (or school supplies, which are not in the Housing Kit Guide), this would be a huge help! Large groups collecting donations for us really help us meet the material needs of our refugee families. If this is something you or your group would like to do, I can point you in the right direction as far as current needs go.If you are interested in welcoming our newest neighbors to Knoxville in this way, please contact Bridge Refugee Services for more information and the new BRS Housing Kit Guide:Peter Greenpgreen@bridge