Stories
Senior Spotlight: Gabriel Lenge is chasing the goal
This year, we have a number of students graduating from high school, many of them being the first ones to do so in their family. We wanted to take a moment to focus on some of our seniors as they prepare to enter into a new phase of their life. First up is future soccer pro Gabriel. As a…
Read MoreA Mother’s Guidance Makes an Impact
Because of her mother, Anna Triska knew what she wanted to do with her life from the time she was in second grade. Triska’s mother is a preschool teacher, and ever since she was little she would help her mom with projects and setting up her classroom. From then on, she knew she wanted to…
Read MoreAppreciating Those Who Sacrifice it All
Being a mother is a big job, let alone being a mother of four kids in a new country where you don’t speak the language. But for many families and mothers of families that World Relief serves, this is a reality. Students from Augustana College have been spending time with client families via google meets…
Read MoreA Good Neighbor
To close out Volunteer Appreciation Month, we spoke to one of our Good Neighbor Teams about their experience welcoming a family into the U.S. and walking alongside them as they start to rebuild their lives stateside. These teams of 6-8 people are often the first friends our newest neighbors will have when they arrive, and they…
Read MoreComing full circle: how sewing tied one volunteer back to her family roots
In 1949, a young Yugoslavian man left war-torn Europe with all that he had in the search of a better life. Rather than packing multiple suitcases like we would today, however, he had to build his own out of nails and wood. A Nazi prison camp survivor, he had spent the past five years of his life in a displaced persons…
Read MoreHow one volunteer goes above and beyond for his fellow immigrants
One volunteer, Arrey, makes sure to give back to his fellow immigrants in any way we can.
Read MoreVolunteer Spotlight: Café English
When Ed Thompson took a business trip to France nearly five years ago, he didn’t think it would have such a profound impact on his life today. But this one experience of speaking a foreign language in a country that is not your own is in fact what spurred him on to become a volunteer at the Connect…
Read MoreOvercoming Food Insecurity
Quad City native Shirley Johnson enjoys going on hikes and bike rides outside, even stopping along her way to pick up litter and trash she sees scattered around the ground. While she contributes to the community in small ways like that, she also gives back as an active volunteer at World Relief Quad Cities. Shirley…
Read MoreThe Path to Citizenship
Volunteer Autumn Gross does a little bit of everything. Throughout her seven and a half years at World Relief Quad Cities, Autumn has done grocery shopping, transporting clients to appointments, teaching English, helping in the office, setting up appointments and translating, as she’s fluent in Spanish. Right now, she helps coordinate their monthly food pantry.…
Read MoreCompassion, Consideration, and Social Justice
Dr. Chris Strunk is a Professor of Geography at Augustana College, and this spring he decided to create a partnership with World Relief Quad Cities and his Geography of Human Issues course. Students in his class offer virtual tutoring help to World Relief families. Chris’s students have expressed such positive remarks about this partnership. With…
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