I would like to support Nationalities Service Center’s Annual Fund with a gift of:

❍ $25 ❍ $50 ❍ $100 ❍ $250 ❍ $500 ❍ $1,000 ❍ Other

❍ I am enclosing a check made payable to Nationalities Service Center

❍ Please charge my credit card: ❍ Visa ❍ Mastercard ❍ Amex ❍ Discover

Card Number: Exp. Date:

Sec. Code: Name on Card:

Signature:

I would like to make my gift:

In memory of In honor of

I am writing to ask for your support of Nationalities Service Center (NSC), an organization that has served immigrants and refugees in the Greater Philadelphia region since 1921—and one that I have passionately supported for over 20 years. I’d like to share with you why I care so deeply about NSC—and why I hope you will, as well, after reading my story.

In 1990, I saw a sign in the window of NSC asking for volunteers to teach English. When I walked inside, I had no idea it would change my life. I soon found myself in front of a classroom of 20 beginning level adult English students from 18 different countries. It was love at first sight, and I’ve been teaching ever since. This became the start of my involvement with NSC and, since that time, I have also had the privilege of supporting their important work as a longtime Board member, interim executive director, and long-standing donor.

From the beginning, I have been deeply moved by my students’ stories. While I have hundreds of others, these individuals have stood out in particular:

• A young man from Mexico who'd risked his life crossing the border so he could work and earn money in the US in order to pay for life-saving medical treatment for his father back home.

• A young Iraqi university student who had received death threats resulting from advocating for rights for minorities in Baghdad.

• A woman from Eritrea who struggled to get an education for herself to help her two young daughters.

• Ethnic Nepali farmers who were forced to leave their homes in Bhutan and had languished in refugee camps for many years before resettling in Philadelphia.

• A Sudanese man who, as a teenager, obeyed his mother’s plea to walk hundreds of miles from Darfur to escape war and certain death.

• A women's rights advocate from Cameroon who had been tortured and raped in jail while pregnant.(over)

Today, with the enormous humanitarian crisis

caused by the war in Syria and protracted

conflicts throughout this region, your help

is needed now, more than ever.”

““1216 Arch Street, 4th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215) 893-8400 nscphila.org

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORMargaret M. O’Sullivan

BOARD OF TRUSTEESBoard ChairAlicia Karr

1st Vice ChairMichele Hangley, Esq.

2nd Vice ChairMohamed Nabil Bakry, Esq.

SecretaryKate Lang Rivera

TreasurerWilliam W. Mezger

Marc Jay Altshuler, MDAntonio BryantDebra Cesario, MSWElizabeth DeSouzaZoe DevaneyAngelica EshbachElise Fialkowski, Esq.David Goodwin, Ph.D.Margaret HarrisSue JacquetteJohn Kim, Esq.Patricia MaCarey MorganKatie MullerBarry O'SullivanBeth Shapiro, Esq.

Please consider a donation to NSC’s Annual Fund and help us continue our important work as we strive to build new lives for refugees and immigrants in our region.

November 2015

Dear Friend,

Dear Friend,

Other Ways to Give:

❍ I would like information about including NSC in my will, estate plans, planned gifts and/or tax-free gift options.

❍ I will contact my employer about increasing the impact of my donation througha matching gift.

Please take a moment to help us keep your information current.

Name: Phone #:Phone Type: ❍ Cell ❍ Home

Email: ❍ Let us keep you posted on critical NSC news and updates.

What is your current home address?

We’re so grateful for your support of NSC. Please tell us how you became involved:❍ Through board member ❍ Through staff memberPlease share name of individual involved

❍ As a volunteer ❍ Through media (website, social or traditional media)

❍ Other

In addition to those I’ve met, there are so many others that NSC has served and will serve in the future. We stand ready to welcome refugees, no matter where they come from. Over its long history, NSC has resettled

refugees from many parts of the world, including Vietnam, Ukraine, Democratic Republic of the Congo,

Bhutan, Sudan and many other countries. Today, with the enormous humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Syria and

protracted conflicts throughout this region, we are prepared to help an increased number of Syrians and other refugees

who will arrive in the US over the next two years as a result of the Obama administration’s expanded directive. In addition, we help

many refugees who are from places which are not in the headlines, but who still deserve and need our help.

NSC works to serve, defend and empower over 5,000 men, women and children from over 100 countries each year, helping to accelerate their integration into our society by providing legal assistance and protection, culturally sensitive social services and orientation to our society, and help in mastering new life skills needed. We are the largest refugee resettlement agency in the Philadelphia area, welcoming nearly 500 refugees annually. To do so requires a great deal of planning. NSC case workers meet and welcome newly arrived refugees at the airport and take them to their new homes. The case workers have not only found the new homes, but furnished them and provided food, pots and pans, bedding, cleaning supplies, and so much more. Within a few days of arrival, the refugees are taken to doctors and provided with health insurance. We help them get jobs and enroll their children in schools. We provide language classes and interpreters to help them navigate their new lives.

In addition, NSC’s legal department enables immigrants to apply for asylum and to bring their family members here to safety. We protect victims of domestic violence. We provide services to help heal the survivors of torture and trauma.

So, when you see pictures of the thousands of refugees flooding Europe and wonder how you can help, think of NSC. Please make a gift to Nationalities Service Center so that we can offer a warm welcome to those who come from all over the world in search of safety, freedom, and opportunity. I ask that you honor the resilience of the immigrants and refugees we serve at NSC, all of whom have sacrificed so much to get here and who put their trust, and their family’s trust, into our hands.

As NSC approaches its 95th anniversary, please join me in doing your part to help our immigrant and refugee clients succeed

in building new lives as our neighbors. Kindly make your tax-deductible contribution to Nationalities Service

Center by December 31, 2015, using the enclosed envelope, or online at www.nscphila.org.

Our clients teach us so much about courage and overcoming challenges. Let’s learn from them and give them an opportunity to contribute to the richness of our city and our nation.

Thanks for taking the time to read this letter and for your interest in NSC’s work. I hope you are inspired to support us in this important work.

Warm regards,

Margaret Harris

I ask that you honor the resilience of the immigrants

and refugees we serve at NSC, all of whom have

sacrificed so much to get here.”

““