Neighboring the Needy

A Personal Message From Joseph Caminiti

Imagine leaving the country, culture, and family you grew up in, not because you wanted to, but because you had to. Now consider doing that as a family of 13 with four small pieces of luggage. The picture above is an actual photo from an arriving Congolese family in 2023, and is emblematic of the refugee and immigrant plight. Vacation is not the reason for leaving. Fleeing violence is.

Since January 20, 2025, U.S. admission of refugees and immigrants has been halted (except for white Afrikaner farmer entrants not meeting refugee status). It is important to confess that decisions by countries of means to withhold aid from those forced into statelessness is felt not by the privileged, but by the targeted and neglected. This reminds me of the Haitian proverb, "The giver of the blow forgets; the bearer of the scar remembers."

In April 2023, my wife and I moved to Louisville as an elective vocational change to help resettle refugees with KRM. I knew this would be meaningful and I was eager to give to populations traumatized by persecution and violence, forced to leave home, family, and culture. What I did not anticipate was the depth of benefit I would receive being proximate to those whose primary portion in life has been danger and injustice.

Alongside suffering, refugees and immigrants bring a character that I learn from every day. At the time the U.S. most needs immigrant character, that character is being devastatingly shunned. 

And my goodness, refugees and immigrants bring new perspectives via experience, thought, and cultural otherness that lights the imagination! These populations are imports of incalculable worth. (The clear economic benefit is hardly the point, but equally true.)

Your gift to KRM today is defiant of all judicial malfeasance that targets the needy, and is defensive of all rights human and judicial that the afflicted deserve.

Thank you for joining hands in giving hope today.

Impact Scale of Your Gift to KRM*

• $25 - Provides school supplies to a new refugee student beginning classes
• $50 - Gives a winter coat to a single mother and her child
• $100 - Assists a refugee family with the cost of groceries for one month
• $250 - Provides four pairs of steel-toed boots for a newly hired refugee in the workforce
• $500 - Supports the distribution of household goods and basic necessities to refugee and immigrant families
• $1,000 - Creates a scholarship for a college student
• $5,000 - Sponsors two families for two months of rental support
• $10,000 - Ensures interpretation services in multiple languages for a year of cultural orientation programming
  
  *NOTE: Why do you suppose the donation goal is set at $4,700? HINT: The first two numbers signify the cause of the problem at hand. I would love to see another 0 added to this!