Westchester Summer Heritage Festivals 2019

Throughout the summer, Hearts & Homes for Refugees and its coalition Westchester Refugee Initiative were proud to participate in six county heritage festivals!

Steve Greider and Pam Mitchell of Rivertowns for Refugees, together with Shanaz Deen of Hearts & Homes for Refugees, represented the Westchester Refugee Initiative at the Albanian Heritage Festival at the start of the June! 

Then on June 23, sisters from the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority (Zeta Nu Omega chapter) joined Amy Robertson of Hearts & Homes for Refugees to represent the Westchester Refugee Initiative at the African American Heritage Festival. Thanks to their support, 141 advocacy postcards were signed!

On July 14, Lori Hosp and her son Brenden were joined by volunteers Elena Munn, Stephanie Munn and Joy Bertan for the Hispanic Heritage Festival. State Senators Andrea Sterwart-Cousins and Shelley Mayer both stopped by the Hearts & Homes table to show their support for refugees.

At the Jewish festival on August 18, Kathie O’Callaghan was joined by Kiran, Manju, Harshita and Harshal Shet of White Plains, who eagerly explained the work of Hearts & Homes for Refugees and the Westchester Refugee Initiative, inviting festival-goers to sign up to participate in the welcoming movement and to write advocacy postcards on the spot!

Hearts & Homes board member Lori Hosp was joined by volunteers Franca LaBella and our network Ambassador Reshad Ahmadi at the Muslim festival on August 25. Lori’s son Brenden and Reshad’s children Mahsa and Keyanosh also helped hold down the fort!