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Bowling Green Groups Help Refugees Have A Warm Feeling This Winter

Joe Corcoran, WKU News

Nearly 100 refugee children from countries in Africa and Asia will be a lot more comfortable this winter thanks to the efforts of Bowling Green's Islamic Center and the International center.

Those two groups teamed up to provide a cold weather shopping trip at Wal Mart for the kids, most of whom have only been in this country less than three months and have never seen winter before. None speak English.

Families quickly filled shopping carts with shoes, boots, socks, gloves, scarves and pajamas Tuesday morning.

International Center of Kentucky Executive Director and CEO Albert Mbanfu laughed when he pictured the families seeing their first freeze or snowfall. "Many of them don't know what they're getting into, to be welcomed by winter," he said, "But they may not have to learn it too much the hard way since they're getting the warm clothing right now."

The kids came to Bowling Green with their families from Congo, Somalia, Bhutan, Burundi, Rwanda, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. Some fled their war torn countries with little more than what they could carry.

© 2016 WKU Public Radio

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