Fun Run / Walk for Indo American Center
EVENT DETAILS
Event: 5k or 1 mile run/walk
Date: Sunday, October 10, 2021
Time: 10am-1pm CT
Location: Katherine Legge Memorial Park (Hinsdale, IL)
If you are unable to join us for the event, you also have the opportunity to Donate today. All donations will go to support Indo American Center. Please note that all donations will be tax deductible.
Beneficiary Organization Background:
The Indo-American Center (IAC) is a community-based 501(c)(3) organization established in to respond to the wide range of needs within Chicago’s South Asian immigrant population including recent, extremely low to low income immigrants. Our mission is to improve the lives of South Asian immigrants by providing services that facilitate their adjustment, integration, and friendship with the wider society, nurture their sense of community, and foster appreciation for the diversity of culture and heritage. The center currently operates six core programs: public benefits, immigration and citizenship, adult literacy, health education, civic engagement, and a senior’s program.
Love Fridge:
IAC’s low income South Asian immigrant clients face the same compounding factors contributing to food insecurity as other low income immigrant communities including limited English skills, lack of/difficulty transferring educational credentials, & low-wage, exploitative jobs. Immigration status further strains resources available, creating a crisis in meeting basic human needs, especially in food access. Dietary restrictions due to religious beliefs/cultural norms mean that IAC clients can’t go to any food pantry or the typical USDA depository network, leaving them especially vulnerable to food insecurity.
IAC is the host site of a LOVE Fridge. The IAC Love Fridge is a community fridge and mutual aid project that provides free food to the community. The fridge ensures accessible food and other essential items at all hours of the day, every single day. In partnership with the West Ridge Community Response Team, the fridge is maintained and cleaned by volunteers and stocked through donations from local residents, community, and businesses and also includes USDA food boxes. Food insecurity increased drastically during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has particularly impacted those already at heightened risk of negative consequences: low-income families and communities of color. The fridge provides free food to those in need and seeks to reduce both food insecurity and food waste. The IAC Love Fridge is one of the most utilized community fridges, providing food, household, and essential items to seniors, children, and families. The fridge is a critical resource for the low-income South Asian community, undocumented, those waiting for SNAP benefits, & those that are just above application threshold and thus ineligible for SNAP. The fridge is part of broader IAC efforts to address food insecurity & is used as an additional point of entry to connect individuals to IAC programs and services.
Ignite Asha’s Mission
Ignite Asha’s mission is to improve the human rights and self worth of South Asian women and children on a global level.