NYC Immigration Commissioner Fatima Shama Photo: Provided
As Americans prepare to vote and with immigration simmering as a 2012 elections issue, global humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) is preparing to honor both the achievements – and struggles – of immigrants to the United States.
At a 7 p.m. cocktail reception October 25 at the Museum of the City of New York, CWS will present its first annual John Backer Award to broadcast entrepreneur Tony Hernandez and DREAM Act advocate Myrna Orozco, and will hear from New York City’s Immigration Commissioner Fatima Shama, among others, about immigrants’ economic and cultural contributions to the United States.
Hernandez is Co-Founder & CEO of Latino Broadcasting Company and son of a Cuban refugee resettled by CWS. He lives in Miami, Fla. More on Tony here: http://www.latinobroadcasting.com
Myrna Orozco is an Immigrant Rights Advocate, particularly on the DREAM Act. She declares herself to be “undocumented and unafraid.” She serves as an advisor to the organization United We Dream, and works with the Kansas/Missouri Dream Alliance (KSMDA). She lives near Kansas City.
The award honors the late John Backer’s 61 years of service to CWS as a staff member and volunteer. His first assignment was to wait by the piers in New York City to help new refugees arriving from World War II-ravaged Europe get to Penn Station to start the train trip to their new resettlement destinations in cities and towns across America.
Mr. Backer worked in CWS’s New York City headquarters offices until just a few days before he died in December 2011.
At the reception, where recording artist Yvette Rovira will perform, CWS also will preview a short clip of the PBS series Visionaries that features the agency. Visionaries chose to feature CWS in its two premiere episodes, which will air in late November nationwide.
International singer/songwriter and recording artist Yvette Rovira will also be performing some of her musical selections at the event. She is a supporter of the agency’s hunger and poverty fighting work at home and worldwide.
CWS – www.cwsglobal.org – is a global humanitarian agency working to eradicate hunger and poverty. Founded in 1946, it supports sustainable grassroots development, helps communities respond to disasters, protects refugees and other forcibly displaced people, and promotes public policies that contribute to building a world where there is enough for all.
In its 66 years, CWS has resettled more than 500,000 refugees and 300,000 Cuban and Haitian entrants to the United States. Other U.S.-based programs offer immigration legal services in seven cities, including New York City, also giving support to a network of such services in 17 of CWS’s resettlement affiliate offices.
CWS administers the Resettlement Support Center Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya, which helps candidates for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program prepare their case files. And it works around the world to increase forcibly displaced persons’ access to essential services, protection and durable solutions.
What/When/Where:
Special event/cocktail reception 7 p.m. Thursday, October 25, 2012, Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue at 100th Street, New York City, Broadcaster Tony Hernandez and immigrant rights’ advocate Myrna Orozco will be honored with the first annual John Backer Award, recalling with appreciation the late Mr. Backer’s 61-year commitment to CWS.
New York City Immigration Commissioner Fatima Shama will speak about immigration issues from a local and national perspective. NOTE: She will need to leave at 7:45 p.m. for another engagement.