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Y Welcoming Week celebrates diversity

T-R PHOTO BY SARA JORDAN-HEINTZ Y employee Kim Jass-Ramirez marks the spot on the map where her family comes from in Poland, an area that endured Nazi Occupation.

Welcoming Week kicks off today at YMCA’s all over the country. In Marshalltown, the YMCA-YWCA, 108 Washington St., is celebrating the community’s rich ethnic diversity with several maps set up around the facility.

“We have set up maps asking our members and guests to make a mark on their country of origin or heritage, using a black marker. It’s nice to recognize both, because although a person might not be an immigrant himself or herself, they likely have a heritage that is from another country,” Y Financial Development Director Kim Jass-Ramirez said. “We are proud to be a part of Welcoming Week, which is demonstrating that in places large and small, rural and urban, people of all backgrounds are coming together to create stronger communities.”

The maps are attached to display boards and situated near the Y’s registration desk, in the upstairs weightlifting area and next door at the Cultural Center.

Jass-Ramirez kicked off the effort by putting a dot on the map in a section of Poland — an area in which her ancestors fled during the Nazi Occupation.

“It is an opportunity to celebrate the diversity of our community and to bring newcomers together with longstanding residents,” she said. “These goals are woven into everything we do at the Y, but Welcoming Week offers the opportunity to intentionally share that message.”

In addition to the maps, the Y is also taking to social media, creating posts that promote cross-cultural understanding.

Joa LaVille, co-coordinator of Immigrant Allies of Marshalltown, said her organization supports the Y’s efforts in promoting diversity.

“We are always excited to see all the ways that local organizations, like the Y, actively welcome people who live in Marshalltown, no matter where they are from,” LaVille said. “We know that while many of us celebrate our growing diversity, there are always those who merely tolerate or even resent the changes in Marshalltown. However, at the end of the day, I hope we can all agree that our community is stronger when we can treat one another like neighbors, and when everyone is empowered to contribute the best of what they have to offer.”

The maps and markers will be available at the Y now through Sept. 22.

Welcoming Week is held in partnership with Welcoming America, a non-profit, non-partisan organization founded in 2009. To learn about additional ways of celebrating Welcoming Week, visit www.welcomingamerica.org.

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Contact Sara Jordan-Heintz

at 641-753-6611 or

sjordan@timesrepublican.com

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