Nebraska communities are holding events celebrating how our towns are made stronger by welcoming new neighbors from all different cultures and backgrounds during the 5th annual National Welcoming Week September 16-25.
National Welcoming Week is a nationwide series of events where communities bring together new and long-time residents in a spirit of unity to raise awareness of the benefits to everyone of a welcoming community. In 2015, there were 245 events in more than 80 communities across the country during Welcoming Week, with more than 22,000 people participating.
Lincoln Welcoming Week events
Harvest Moon Festival – Asian Community and Cultural Center
Saturday, September 17
Antelope Park, Lincoln
Contact: Shelia Dorsey Vinton, Executive Director
Lincoln Arts Festival – Lincoln Arts Council
September 24-25
Southpointe Pavillions, Lincoln
Contact: Lori McAlister, Program Director
This year’s Lincoln Arts Festival will feature the “World Stage,” with music and dancing from cultures around the world.
Crete Welcoming Week events
Crete has enthusiastically embraced the welcoming movement and will hold several events bringing together long-time and new neighbors during Welcoming Week.
“When We Stop Counting” film screening and panel discussion
Thursday, September 15
Heckman Auditorium, Doane College, 7:00 p.m.
Contact: Dulce Castaneda, Crete Community Assistance Director
“When We Stop Counting” is a 2010 documentary that follows six Hispanic high school students in Crete, living their personal struggles and triumphs while bearing the pressure of their parents’ backbreaking sacrifice in hopes of achieving the American Dream.
After the screening, there will be a panel discussion with several of the now-grown students who will share their lives and experiences after high school.
World Dish Potluck
Wednesday, September 21, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Crete High School
Contact: Dulce Castaneda, Crete Community Assistance Director
Community members will contribute their best dishes from all over the world for a community-wide potluck dinner. Afterward, Justice For Our Neighbors will host an “Immigration 101” training to educate local community members about the current U.S. immigration system.
Omaha Welcoming Week events
September 8-14
Block 16, 1611 Farnham St., Omaha
Kitchen Table, 1415 Farnham St., Omaha
New American Dish is an exciting exchange of food and culture with food inspired by Omaha’s newest neighbors from across the globe. Local restaurants will feature signature dishes created in collaboration with a New American (refugee or immigrant) woman that highlights the restaurant’s unique concept and the flavors of the woman’s home country. Five percent of the week’s sales from these restaurants will go to the New American Women’s Alliance, a program of Omaha’s Refugee Empowerment Center.