Goodwill and CAIR Oklahoma
During our first 18 months of providing immediate needs to Afghan newcomers in the OKC metro area, CAIR Oklahoma reached out to the local Muslim community to donate Desi clothing, apparel in styles common to Southeast Asian countries. This was a particularly unique need we met that no other organization in the Oklahoma City Metro area was positioned or equipped to obtain. Our donors were thrilled that we accepted this clothing, because typically, they would box it up and bring it with them when visiting family in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh to donate to charities there.
When we began moving away from providing immediate needs for free, we knew it was critical to find a sustainable solution for making these donations available to the Afghan community at a low cost. That’s when we reached out to Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma. Our partnership and its impact on the lives of hundreds of Afghan Oklahomans is just one example of how CAIR Oklahoma builds relationships in the community to accomplish more than we can do on our own – a relationship with a national nonprofit that is committed to enhancing people’s dignity and quality of life by strengthening their communities, eliminating their barriers to opportunity, and helping them reach their full potential through learning and the power of work.
Starting in early summer 2023, the Goodwill store at 6305 N. MacArthur Blvd. began accepting Desi clothing donations. With training assistance from CAIR Oklahoma, their staff knows how to identify and display these donations. And when they don’t have enough Desi clothing, they fill the racks with other appropriate clothing in Western styles. By September, the store manager noticed a significant rise in Afghan patrons at their store.
And to top it all off, Goodwill staff provided additional assistance a few months earlier as we closed the CAIR Oklahoma Refugee Resource Center. They brought a large truck and three strong employees to load up and deliver not only the Goodwill clothing donations to the North MacArthur location, but also those items we were passing on to other community partners, including Homeless Alliance, Dress for Success, Pivot Inc., and Skyline!
If your organization would like to support Afghan neighbors, CAIR Oklahoma can help you reach your goals! Email Jen Hund (jhund@cair.com) to learn more.