“We’re very proud of them,” says Sue Rummel, about the family from Afghanistan who has come to America to start a new life in New London. “It cannot possibly be easy coming here under refugee or humanitarian circumstances,” she added.

During a recent interview with the volunteer coordinator of StartFresh, Rummel said the Afghan family of four (father, mother and their two children) has settled into the apartment made ready for them and begun functioning “as Americans, while retaining their own culture.”

Rummel related the steps of their journey from Afghanistan to New London. They boarded one of the huge cargo planes at Kabul airport in August. The next stop was Kuwait. From there a three-day flight to a military base in Virginia preceded their trip to New London, where StartFresh workers were waiting to take them to their new home.

StartFresh is a non-profit organization, established and run by volunteers, whose purpose is to resettle refugees and other displaced persons, by providing them with the necessities to start a new life in the New London area.

Since 2016, StartFresh has welcomed six refugee families (for a total of 31 individuals) to New London. There are three from Syria, two from Sudan, and one from Afghanistan. StartFresh has co-sponsored refugees and evacuees (both groups having to leave their native countries because of the perils of staying there) with Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS) of New Haven.

“We believe all refugees and displaced persons can embrace who they are, can define their future, and can change the world,” is the creed expressed on the StartFresh website.

Rummel discussed the various teams of volunteers at StartFresh who work hard to get the refugees and evacuees settled. Volunteers have rented and furnished apartments, set up a pantry with food and then assisted families with food shopping. In addition, they have provided a vast array of services to families, including transportation around town, accessing social services, obtaining health and dental care, enrolling in English language classes at Adult Education, registering children for schools and camp and assisting with state IDs and driver’s licenses, finding employment and acculturating to America.

Volunteers must sign a confidentiality agreement and undergo a background check.

“We also expect them to be vaccinated if they are going to interact with people directly,” Rummel added.

Speaking of volunteers, Maggy Gilbert, a parishioner at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Mystic, began working for StartFresh last year after a conversation with her friend Hildy Ziegler.

“Now I’m in it for life,” said Gilbert. “This work is so fulfilling. I get more out of it than I give.”

These two women were responsible for cleaning the apartment that had been rented for the Afghan family and buying food and other necessities. Last year they also got to pick out furniture for the previous family of refugees brought to New London by StartFresh.

“Going forward, Hildy and I will be responsible for food. When a specific job is needed to be done, I volunteer,” Gilbert explained.

Sue Rummel summed up her feelings about the people who give their time and talents to StartFresh as follows: “I want to give thanks to so many individuals and organizations who have opened their hearts and their wallets to welcome and show their support for our new Afghan family, as well as the previous five refugee families. Their stories are unbelievable and heartbreaking, but all of them have taken advantage of every opportunity to build a good life for themselves.” She cited the example of the first family helped by StartFresh, who now own their own home and have two children in college.

For a complete list of the services provided and volunteers needed by StartFresh, as well as how to donate, go to their website startfreshct.org.

Jim Izzo is a retired teacher living in Mystic.