The following is an excerpt from an article posted in the Omaha.com in Feb 2019:
“
Omahan John Pehle helped save thousands of people from the Holocaust. UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM
Unity event successful
On Jan. 21, the Veterans for American Ideals Iowa-Nebraska team — in collaboration with Beth El Synagogue, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-Omaha, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Tri-Faith Initiative, Goldstein Center of Human Rights, Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, American Muslim Institute and Karadah Project International — brought together more than 300 people to enjoy good Afghan food, friendship, fellowship and service. This was made possible through a generous grant from Islamic Relief USA, a nonprofit humanitarian and advocacy organization.
Six leaders from the faith, education and nonprofit communities shared stories and wisdom inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. We ate Afghan food catered by a local immigrant and collected food for the Lutheran Family Services food pantry. We tied blankets and wrote welcome cards for incoming refugees.
Children played games and had their faces painted and their names written in Arabic. During these and other activities, we came together as a larger community of people concerned about new friends from faraway places and learned the value of our own diversity.
One of our planning committee members remarked that it was crazy that her synagogue had never really done much with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregation that sits right next door. The success of the event has inspired us to begin planning for a similar event next year.
We all hope this will be a tradition that will last far into the future.
Rick Burns, Elk Horn, Iowa
founder and president,
Karadah Project International ”
Read the full post on Omaha.com
