Center for Refugee Services

08/21/2026

If you are a subscriber to our newsletter, you have already seen that we are reflecting this month on the five year anniversary of the evacuation of thousands of refugees from Afghanistan. As you can see from this news clip, we had no idea just how many families we would end up serving here in San Antonio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FU9pWZmqAI

We look forward to sharing more photos and memories from this impactful time over the coming days.

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08/19/2026

We are grateful for the donation of clothing from SATS-Youth Wing They shared with us some photos of all the work that it took to organize and deliver the donations!

08/06/2026

Most of the students from our client families head back to school on Monday. Thank you again to our donors and volunteers who made our backpack event a success! Starting last week, families received new, filled backpacks for each of their school-aged children. These much-needed supplies represent a day's wages for our client families. Thank you again to our supporters!

08/04/2026

Did our back-to-school backpack event inspire you to get involved with the Center for Refugee Services? We are looking for a few more teachers for our Monday and Wednesday English (ESL) classes. We have both daytime and evening classes. If you would like more information please email [email protected] or call (210 640 7894.

07/30/2026

Yesterday we distributed 782 new, filled backpacks to children and teens from 196 refugee families. On average, each family has four school-aged children. Many thanks to our volunteer teams and donors who make this all happen! We will continue to distribute backpacks today and tomorrow.

07/28/2026

We are busy organizing backpacks and school supplies for our annual backpack and school supplies event. We will provide new, filled backpacks to nearly 2000 children and teens from refugee families.

Our volunteer slots for this event are all filled, but if you would like to help us get more school supplies we have another volunteer opportunity with Communities In Schools of San Antonio and their Stuff the Bus event with HEB. Get more details and sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C49ADAD22A2FAC16-64863277-cisxcrs?fbclid=IwY2xjawTN-iFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFSaGtvdDZCaXB3SHBDRklQc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHqhIB2XlfCnXjA-AQNjJXbbs7CPKye_-HLz9rnlUdn0Hhjnbs7G0gaNiMkRL_aem_LSVrQuDWVTHzgIzaxTPLTw #/

07/22/2026

Did you miss out on getting a volunteer slot for our backpack event next week? Good news! We have another opportunity for volunteers to help get additional school supplies into the hands of children from refugee families. On August 1, the Center for Refugee Services will partner with Communities In Schools of San Antonio and HEB for their Stuff the Bus event. We will need at least 12 volunteers to help us staff a table at the HEB at 6839 San Pedro (North Shearer Hills). Sign up via our SignUp Genius: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C49ADAD22A2FAC16-64863277-cisxcrs #/

07/21/2026

We are so proud of our 2026 high school graduates and scholarship recipients! At our ceremony on Saturday, Hidayatullah gave a speech behalf of the 14 students who earned a scholarship toward their first year of college, check it out below!

07/20/2026

On Saturday, July 18, the Center for Refugee Services awarded 14 scholarships to high school graduates from refugee families, including one $1,000 scholarship from Howard Energy Partners. We wish these graduates all the best as they pursue their college degrees!

07/16/2026

It is the height of summer but back-to-school season is just around the corner! We are gearing up to distribute nearly 2000 new, filled backpacks to children and teens from refugee families. Thank you to everyone who has already donated to this event!

(archive photo)