Downey Brand Partners With Nonprofit Organization Starting Point for Refugee Children

November 9, 2021

Downey Brand was thrilled to partner with Starting Point for Refugee Children as part of the firm’s monthly donation drive to commemorate its 95th anniversary of providing legal services.

Throughout October, the firm, its partners, and employees contributed supplies for the organization’s “Starting Point Basket” program to help newly-arrived Afghan refugees who are resettling in Sacramento.

“With the generous support of so many attorneys and support staff, we were able to donate roughly 80 baskets filled with household supplies that will go on to support at least 15 Afghan refugee families,” said Merry Iseley, the firm’s Marketing Manager. “It was a pleasure to meet Vickee and her team at Starting Point and to hear their stories firsthand about the impact they were making and the need for community support for refugees,” added Ryan Kaika, the firm’s Marketing Coordinator.

Starting Point for Refugee Children is an entirely volunteer-based, grassroots nonprofit organization that has partnered with entities such as the Sacramento Kings Foundation, Sacramento Republic FC, the Sacramento Bee, and the Asian/Pacific Bar Association of Sacramento, to name just a few. Its mission is to help newly-arrived refugee children and families assimilate into the greater Sacramento area. They strive to give the newcomers a warm welcome by providing basic necessities and programs as the refugees begin their new lives in the United States. They have helped more than 250 families to date during their four years of service and have been assisting an ever-increasing number of families within the past few months following the end of the U.S. War in Afghanistan.

The firm’s attorneys and support staff members collected various household items such as kitchenware, cookware, bathroom essentials, tool kits, soccer balls, and much more, storing them in either laundry baskets or large plastic bins. The baskets were delivered to Starting Point for Refugee Children on November 8th and will immediately be re-directed to Afghan refugees as they begin the arduous task of starting over in a new country.