Pittsburgh to hold World Refugee Day celebration Monday

Members of Pittsburgh’s refugee and immigrant community will gather in Schenley Plaza on Monday to celebrate World Refugee Day and Immigrant Heritage Month.

The family friendly event, organized by Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS) with support from other agencies, will run from 4-8 p.m.

It will bring people together with food, art and dance performances.

Local refugees and immigrants will also share their personal stories through poetry and essay readings.

The gathering is scheduled for Monday because World Refugee Day falls each year on June 20.

“For us, as a resettlement agency, this is an important event to not only celebrate our refugee and immigrant neighbors but also to showcase to the rest of Pittsburgh the diversity, culture, food and business that they bring to our community,” said Refugee Day organizer and JFCS public relations specialist Allie Reefer.

Pittsburgh has a well-established history of being a city that welcomes immigrants. While that tradition continues, Reefer acknowledged that it looks a little bit different these days.

“When the steel mills were present, there were a lot of European immigrants and others coming here, and some others as well, to work for the steel industry,” she said. “Now, without the steel industry, it’s a little more difficult to find asylum seekers and refugees jobs.”

However, Reefer acknowledged the proliferation of Nepali and Bhutanese businesses along the Route 51 corridor in Pittsburgh’s South Hills area. Many of those businesses will be represented at the World Refugee Day celebration, she said.

“I know in speaking with some of the participants this year — people who are going to be selling food or crafts or performing on our main stage — they’re just excited to be able to showcase these things to Pittsburgh,” Reefer said. “This (event) gives them the chance to share that.”

Some of the activities include learning dances, lawn games and story time.

Guest speakers include Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, several refugees and immigrants, and World Refugee Day Pittsburgh host Siraji Hassan, president of United Somali Bantu of Greater Pittsburgh.

For more information, go to www.jfcspgh.org/wrd.