Here’s what we need at El Refugio

For bags of clothing for people facing deportation:

  • Backpacks or duffel bags (new or gently used)

  • Jeans (new or gently used, for men and women)

  • Casual pants (new or gently used, for men and women)

  • T-shirts, polo shirts, casual tops for women (new or gently used)

  • Sweatshirts (new or gently used)

  • Light jackets (new or gently used)

  • Shoes suitable for walking, such as sneakers or other casual shoes. No sandals or dress shoes (new or gently used)

  • Socks (new, please)

  • Underwear (new, please)

  • Sportsbras, no metal clasps (new, please)

For our hospitality house

Shell gas cards in increments of $25 and $50

Fast food cards, such as Dunkin Donuts and Subway

Delivery of drive items:

Clothing and backpacks need to get to Koinonia Farm in Americus, where they are packed. An El Refugio board member in Atlanta makes frequent trips to Koinonia, and she is happy to bring items down. Gift cards should be mailed to Patti Ghezzi, Development and Communications Coordinator. Contact Patti for the address to mail gift cards and to make arrangements to get items to Koinonia. Do not mail items to our hospitality house in Lumpkin. We do not have mail service in Lumpkin.

Our Target Registry

Our Target Registry includes items such as shoes and underwear needed for clothing bags for people facing deportation. These items will be shipped directly to Koinonia Farm in Americus, which is where the bags are packed. Please be advised that for the past year, our Target Registry has posed frustration to shoppers with items being out of stock. We update it as frequently as we can, but sometimes every backpack or jacket we try to add is out of stock! So please be patient with our registry. We do love it when we receive new items to pass along to people being deported!