In October 2021, the North Church Session approved appropriating $3,000 to sponsor a family of Afghan evacuees through Journey’s End Refugee Services. The Deacons began collecting donations of furniture and household items in good condition as well as monetary donations to fill in any additional items and stock the kitchen pantry.

Due to the limited availability of affordable rental property, it took a while for a family to be assigned to North Church. We were finally assigned an Afghan family of four:  two adults, a boy aged 4, and girl aged 5, in June 2022.

An apartment was set up on Saturday, June 25, 2022 with the help of some very hard workers and some lovely donations. The apartment, located near the Cheektowaga Town Park, felt bright and cheery when the set up was complete. The kitchen pantry was stocked and the apartment was ready for our new family to move in.