Mission Invitation Thomas Leddy-Cecere, a Strafford native son and a beloved son of this congregation, is working at the University of Texas in Austin in a program that pairs university student volunteers as mentors with recently arrived refugee students. The volunteers are primarily UT undergraduates who study relevant languages like Arabic, Persian and French, and they work with the kids multiple times a week to provide academic tutoring, social/ emotional mentoring, and transition support. One challenge that the program faces is the funding to pay for the transportation of the university students to the schools where they meet the refugee students. Thomas contacted our Mission Committee recently and asked for our support for this transportation, which we gladly gave. We wanted to offer others the opportunity to support this mission work of Thomas. To see a video of Thomas, to learn about the program and to make a donation, please go to this link:

https://hornraiser.utexas.edu/project/7886?utm_source=scalefunder&utm_campaign=amb_share&utm_name=dsft8mdoqpl7li4vi14lhtl&utm_medium=plain

Here is part of the statement of thanks that we received from Thomas this week: “It means a lot to have the support of the community that first taught me the importance of doing good in the world, even when I’m half a continent away.”

Here is a youtube video of Thomas talking about the project: