Trust and Music City Supporters to #BandTogether for World Refugee Day

It’s an often quoted line from Nashville SC owner John Ingram, “In Nashville, we may speak over 100 languages, but we all speak soccer.”

It’s in this spirit that the Nashville Soccer Supporters Trust is partnering with one of its member organizations, The Music City Supporters, to help sponsor the Nashville International Center for Empowerment’s World Refugee Day celebration on June 20.

The event, which will take place from 4-7 p.m., will be held in the common area of Highland Apartments (4646 Nolensville Pike), which is where many of our new refugee neighbors have made their home. The festivities will include food, music, henna, face painting, carnival games and more.

The Music City Supporters have long been an advocate of efforts to help the refugee community make Nashville their home. This year they reached out to the Supporters Trust to help provide the funding to feed the crowds expected at the celebration and the Trust was proud to assist. But it won’t just be MCS and the Trust representing the Nashville soccer community as Nashville SC has been a faithful partner for years and will once again be there to provide an inflatable soccer field, coaching and some special guests that any fan of NSC will recognize.

With all of these organizations coming together, a great time should be had by all. However, when the merriment is finished, the hard work of helping hundreds of desperate refugees resettle each year goes on. Coming from war and crime ravished regions all over the world, these individuals are simply seeking a second chance to live a life free from fear of death or torture.

Helping them initially through this process are a number of refugee resettlement agencies, but when they are done there is still a long road to be traveled. That is when the work of NICE, their many church partners and tireless volunteers like Donna Pack begins.

Pack began volunteering with NICE 14 years ago when her then teenage daughter asked if genocides still occurred. The subsequent discussion and visit to refugees led to a shared passion between mother and daughter to help those caught in persecution.

Pack likes to describe what she does as helping these storm tossed souls learn how to “Do Life” in America. NICE provides classes that range from teaching English to family planning. They help these new neighbors find jobs, furnish their apartments, get to the grocery store and just generally navigate living in America.

Pack added that she feels like the luckiest person because she get to be a part of so many loving families who are so grateful to have been given a second chance.

If you would like to learn more about NICE click here.