City officials are working with the Framingham Interfaith Clergy Association to organize donations for asylum-seeking families temporarily being housed in city hotels.
Two sites in/near District 2 will be accepting donations to help the families, according to a statement issued by the city today.
Starting tomorrow, Monday, August 21, donations can be dropped off at Edwards Church at 39 Edwards Street on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon this week. (Edwards Church is now technically just over the border in District 1, but still Saxonville and close enough!) Temple Beth Sholom at 50 Pamela Road in Framingham will accept donations on Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to noon this week.
More sites will be added later, the city said.
As of last Sunday, there were 12 families totaling 39 people seeking refuge here. Today, a week later, there are “10 families in a second hotel and more than 30 families in a third hotel,” today’s statement said. And, “The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has indicated to the City that more families are due in August and September.”
The families are expected to be here until the end of September or October, although it’s possible that could be extended.
“The families have no microwaves and no refrigerators in their rooms, for the most part. So we are only accepting the following donations:,” the city said:
Shelf milk
Juice boxes
Instant oatmeal
Individual-portion cereal boxes
Granola bars
Snack-size canned fruit
Pedialyte
Gatorade
Children’s vitamins
Tylenol (children’s & adults)
Children’s flu & cold medicine
Similac baby formula for under 1 year and 1 year
Nestle Nido Kinder 1+
Hot cocoa mix
Snack-size apple sauce
Snack crackers
Dehydrated fruit
Bags of oranges
Bags of apples
Bananas
Mangos
Loaves of French bread
Sanitary pads of all sizes (not tampons)
Adult underwear for men (small and medium) and (small, medium, & large for women)
Dominos for adults
Children’s books in Spanish, French, Portuguese, & Creole
No organization has been assigned yet to oversee financial donations for the latest group of arrivals.
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