Young refugees at the Vineyard Apartment in East Dallas revel in their newly gifted toys. (Photo from DFW International Community Alliance)
This month 175 children are getting a special present: their first Christmas in America.
The children—from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Somalia and Congo—will be getting toys on Dec. 10 thanks to a partnership between the Spanish House and DFW International’s Refugee Support Network. Each year the Spanish House has been working with a local charity that focuses on helping marginalized youth; the organization collaborated with DFW International’s Refugee Support Network last year as well.
On Saturday, Spanish House staff and parents will be delivering toys to the children from 9 a.m to 10:30 a.m. Each person delivering the toys went out and bought toys themselves after picking out a child they wanted to shop for.
“There are a lot of charity events for children at Christmas but no one thinks of the refugees,” says DFW International President Anne Marie Weiss-Armush. “This will be the only Christmas gift that these children receive.
Weiss-Armush explains that, on average, a father of refugee children brings home about $1,100 a month, which can cover basics needs but hardly every gifts.
The tradition to start handing out toys to refugee children began 29 years ago with Weiss-Armush, who had moved to Dallas from Saudi Arabia where celebrating Christmas is banned. Weiss-Armush says she wanted to find a way for children (her own included) from other countries to transition to their new home.
“The season is about love it’s not about toys,” Weiss-Armush says. “As a parent I wanted my children not to enjoy christmas in a selfish way but in a bigger sense and reach out to other children.”
