EAST PROVIDENCE – We Share Hope is teaming up with local grocery stores and community groups to provide Afghan evacuees with a taste of home as they prepare to resettle in Rhode Island over the next several months.
As the Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island helps evacuees secure housing, We Share Hope food rescue organization is running a food collection and weekly deliveries with a focus on ingredients commonly used in Afghan cooking.
“What we pledged to do is set their pantries up with all the shelf-stable pantry items in order to start cooking meals that are culturally appropriate and will remind them of home,” said Johanna Corcoran, executive director of We Share Hope.
Over the next few months, the state expects to welcome around 250 Afghan evacuees, who are seeking refuge after the Taliban regime took control of Afghanistan’s government in August.
The food rescue nonprofit is working with Ocean State Job Lot, Stop & Shop, BJs and Gordon Food, as well as groups such as the National Junior Honor Society from Allen Shawn Feinstein Middle School in Coventry, the University of Rhode Island Master Gardener Program and the Women’s Empowerment and Business Owners Networking Development of Warren to secure donations.
In the last month, We Share Hope has collected around 200 large boxes of food towards this effort, according to Corcoran.
On Thursday afternoon, the organization is hosting an event where volunteers will assemble 100 spice kits, which they will pair with “Welcome Boxes” of shelf stable pantry items.
As part of their contribution, Ocean State Job Lot is donating spices needed for these kits. Afghan cooking is rich in spices such as coriander, cardamom and turmeric, but some of these ingredients can be difficult to find at typical U.S. grocery stores.
Ocean State Job Lot was a natural fit for the program in part due to the large collection of spices the store already carries, said David Sarlitto, executive director of the company’s charitable foundation. The North Kingstown-based grocery store chain offers around 70 different spices, according to Sarlitto, including 12 of the approximately 17 spices that We Share Hope sought out for its donation drive.
Ocean State Job Lot also intends to work with evacuees on job training and employment opportunities, Sarlitto said.
“Whatever skills might be presented, there are generally opportunities at Ocean State Job Lot, from the high all the way down to the basic entry level positions,” Sarlitto said. “We don’t know what to expect. We just want to make sure people feel welcome, and that there are options.”
Ocean State Job Lot intends to host a community meal once evacuees are settled, according to Sarlitto.
Separate from this effort, state and community leaders on Monday announced the establishment of Afghan Relief RI, an online portal that allows Rhode Islanders to assist with volunteer and donation services that help with resettlement efforts.
As part of the Monday announcement, the R.I. Foundation announced it had raised nearly $1.5 million from corporate, family and individual donors towards its Refugee Relief Fund.
We Share Hope intends to continue with its food donation and delivery effort for as long as there is need.
“Thinking about what our new neighbors have been through, we feel like food is home,” Corcoran said, “and if we can provide an opportunity for them to have a dish that reminds them of home … that sharing of hope is what our organization is all about.”
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
