Immigrants are in need of shelter, clothing, food

I just placed an online order for dental care products for a migrant mom and her four children. Doing so reminded me of my own mother. She didn’t know what a toothbrush was until she was 13 years old, and only then thanks to the Judson Health Center in New York City, a much-needed resource for immigrants/the indigent. My Mother’s grandmother immigrated to the U.S. with her 10-month-old daughter believing the streets were paved with gold, literally. Instead, she found the sun-deprived, cold-water tenements of Greenwich Village. She washed linens by hand for the boarding houses in the area. Like most immigrants, then and now, she was hardworking and resourceful. She was among the first to secure a NYC taxi medallion before her death in 1937.

Presently, Colorado is home to many new immigrants, far from their birthplaces. Some, who have walked thousands of miles from places like Venezuela, desperately need socks and shoes. Many are living in tents in a hotel parking lot, waiting for housing and possible employment. Like any one of us, they need proper shelter from the elements, warm clothing, food, potable drinking water and to know they are safe from harm.

So, please, this Holiday Season, consider donating to Servicios de La Raza, or other reputable nonprofit. Your donation may be cash, check or credit card. If you cannot make a monetary donation, perhaps you have a clean winter coat (which is still in good condition, but you’ve outgrown), or toiletries, or foodstuffs (e.g., an extra can of tuna fish or a jar of peanut butter).

Servicios de La Raza is located at 3131 West 14th Avenue, Denver, Colorado, 80204 (303458-5851). To make a monetary donation electronically via credit card, you may click on this link: www.coloradogives. org/donate/serviciosdelaraza

Thank you for your compassion and generosity.

— Denise Fazio, Longmont