By: Kurt Greenbaum

Looking for an easy way to help newly arrived refugee families in St. Louis? Welcome Neighbor can help you help them though its welcome kit program, which provides many essential items families need to begin their new life in the United States.

The welcome kit program began about six months ago when Welcome Neighbor moved into its new office. Inspired by a similar program at a resettlement agency in Jefferson City, the organization decided to create kits that could be easily distributed to families in need.

For example, family partners and Welcome Neighbor staff noticed that many families — even those who had been in St. Louis for a while — still needed hygiene and cleaning supplies.

“They may not have very many bathroom supplies or bedding supplies, and we can bring those on a second visit,” she said. “But they always need hygiene items. They always need cleaning items.”

“A lot of these families have been living in refugee camps,” Spencer said. “It’s a huge help to provide them with soap and shampoo and deodorant and feminine products for their girls that they may not have had access to yet.”

To date, Welcome Neighbor has given out around 30 welcome kits. The organization has a waiting list of about 14 families who will receive kits as soon as they become available.

You can support Welcome Neighbor’s Welcome Kit program by purchasing items from the organization’s Amazon wish list. The items will be shipped directly to Welcome Neighbor, and volunteers will assemble and distribute the kits. You can also organize a donation drive at your school, group, or business.

Learn how to contribute on the Welcome Neighbor website page for welcome kits. All donations are tax-deductible.