Nighttown hosts Oct. 4 friend- and fund-raiser for Syrian refugees

Do you watch in despair as thousands of men, women and children flee from the violence in Syria, hoping to find a place where they are safe from the Assad regime and ISIS? Have you been moved to tears by the goodness of 12,000 people in Iceland willing to open their homes to refugees in response to their government's suggestion that the country take 50, or the sight of Germans driving in their cars to pick up weary families?

Nighttown is hosting a fundraiser on Oct. 4, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., organized in response to the current Syrian refugee crisis, and donations will be used to help this group specifically. Representatives of the three refugee resettlement agencies in Cleveland will be present to describe the process of resettlement, from how the government decides how many refugees to accept, to what the agencies do once an individual or family arrives in Cleveland. Refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan, who have made Cleveland home, will talk about their experiences.

You are invited to stop by Nighttown, have something to eat and drink, and make a tax-deductible donation. You can even earmark your donation for a specific purpose, such as purchasing bicycles to enable people to ride to work. There will be an opportunity to sign up to volunteer for anything from mentoring a family to inviting a refugee to dinner, and to donate furniture, baby supplies or clothes.

This fundraiser is generously supported by Brendan Ring, owner of Nighttown. Julia Zabell and Ibrahim Alani created the marketing materials, and Melissa Lynch, the events manager of Nighttown, is working closely with the organizers. Danielle Drake of Us Together and Karin Wishner of the International Services Center will provide programming.