LIRS Walk of Courage Award Dinner to Honor Former Refugees for Community Leadership, Capitol Hill Advocacy

WASHINGTON, June 5, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, June 19, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) will hold the Walk of Courage Award Dinner to mark World Refugee Day. The Baltimore event, featuring CNN journalist and keynote speaker Brenda Bush-Weeks, will honor the journey that refugees worldwide have taken from harm to safety, as well as their leadership in their communities and on Capitol Hill. More than 200 guests from the Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and southern New Jersey areas are expected to attend.

LIRS President and CEO Linda Hartke will use the occasion to present the Walk of Courage Award to Lt. Cmdr. Chris Phan in recognition of his extraordinary accomplishments as a Vietnamese refugee, member of the U.S. armed forces, successful attorney, elected official, and advocate for refugee protection.  The dinner will also honor more than 20 other former refugees who are flying in to Washington, D.C. for visits with congressional offices, and will commemorate the late Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), creator of an amendment bearing his name that facilitates access to refugee status for people fleeing religious persecution.

The United Nations established World Refugee Day as an annual June 20 event to honor the courage, strength, and determination of women, men, and children who are forced to flee their homes under threat of persecution, conflict, and violence.

• WHAT:  Walk of Courage Award Dinner honoring refugees. 
• WHO: More than 20 former refugees who are now American community leaders and refugee advocates; Linda Hartke, President of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service; Brenda Bush-Weeks, CNN Journalist; Lt. Cmdr. and Garden Grove, CA Councilman Chris Phan, recipient of the Walk of Courage Award; Checago Bright, CEO of the Checago Bright Foundation; more than 200 guests.
• WHEN: Wednesday, June 19, 7PM – 9PM
• WHERE: 21^st Floor of the World Trade Center, 401 E. Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD, 21202

Tickets are $30 and can be purchased either online at http://lirs.org/walkofcourage/, by calling (410) 230-2755, or by sending a check addressed to Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service - Walk of Courage Award Dinner, 700 Light Street, Baltimore, MD, 21230. A photo ID will be required at the door of the event.

LIRS is nationally recognized for advocating on behalf of refugees, asylum seekers, unaccompanied children, immigrants in detention, families fractured by migration and other vulnerable populations, and for serving migrants through 60 grassroots legal and social service partners across the United States. For the latest on the legislative process on Capitol Hill, see the LIRS blog series "Immigration Reform 2013: The Update."

Press Contact: Jon Pattee
[email protected]; (202) 591-5778

SOURCE Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service

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