Our June 2025 Recap

As always, we’re excited to share some great news, new opportunities, and invitations to summer events for the whole family. Scroll down for all the highlights!

Thanks to your generosity in June 2025, we were able to:

💚 Contribute $2,006 toward college tools for our volunteer studying to become a car mechanic – he now helps many families with their vehicles
💚 Provide $546 to help a community member cover legal fees while in immigration detention
💚 Cover $155 in organizational expenses – including accounting fees, our QuickBooks subscription, and essential supplies for everyone who comes to us, like paper towels, water, cups, and more
💚 Cover $150 for ESL class needs – including printing materials, bottled water for kids and adults, and end-of-term pizza for students and teen volunteers
💚 Buy $83 worth of crafting kits for a 12-year-old from a low-income family who loves making bracelets and learning to crochet
💚 Pay $69 in shipping costs to send a laptop to a newly arrived person

We have some exciting events coming up soon! Follow us on our Facebook page to be the first to know about them.

Families have already enjoyed a day at Woodland Park Zoo — and now it’s your turn!

Thanks to our partnership, Seattle Envelopes has 150 community access tickets to the zoo available for refugee families. It’s a great way to relax, learn, and spend time in nature. 💙 Huge thanks to Masha Makarenkova for making this possible!

📩 If you’re a refugee — or know someone who would love this opportunity — please email masha@seattle-envelopes.org to learn how to get tickets.

Get Tickets

Updates from June

💚 New Project: Support Seattle Envelopes by Donating to Small Threads for Kids!

We’ve partnered with Small Threads for Kids – a local children’s consignment store that accepts kids’ clothing, toys, furniture, and gear. Now you can support our community simply by donating your gently used items there.

❗️ All Small Threads locations participate:
📍 Redmond: 8215 160th Ave NE, Redmond, WA 98052
📍 Issaquah: 1480 NW Gilman Blvd, Issaquah, WA 98027
📍 Kirkland: 12507 116th Ave NE, Kirkland, WA 98034
📍 Mill Creek: 13218 39th Ave SE, Suite 101, Mill Creek, WA 98012

What they accept:
👕 Children’s and baby clothing 🧸 Toys 🪑 Kids’ furniture and gear

How to donate:
Bring up to 6 items without an appointment, or up to 35 items by scheduling ahead. Store staff set prices and handle the sales.

How it works:
📦 Donate your items to Small Threads and specify the Seattle Envelopes account
💳 40% of the sale proceeds go to our account
🎁 We use these funds to purchase essential items for families in our community

From July 1, Small Threads accepts fall clothing as well as summer clothing (for the last month of this year!)

🙏 Special thanks to our project partner Nastya for the idea and for launching this initiative!
Spread the word – together we turn simple donations into meaningful support!

On June 19, 2025, Seattle Envelopes hosted a special session for high school and college students as part of our “Teach Me!” project.

Dr. Natalia Usoltseva and first-year medical student Patricia Panfil shared their journeys, offering insights into medical school admissions, residency, daily responsibilities, and the realities of working as a physician in the U.S.

💬 Participant feedback:
“Thank you so much for sending the link — I’m not on Facebook and might’ve missed it. The session was incredibly helpful. I now have a much clearer understanding of the steps involved.”

Special thanks to Dr. Usoltseva and Patricia for an engaging and informative conversation — and to everyone who joined and showed interest in the topic!

Laptop Update from Seattle Envelopes

Thanks to a nonprofit support program, we received 50 laptops from Amazon, and we’ve been working hard to get them ready to help our community members learn, work, and adapt to a new life.

Our Technical Director, Gregory Gridin, plays a crucial role in this process: he assembles, repairs, and sets up each computer so both kids and adults can confidently take their next steps.

📦 Received: 50 laptops
🔍 Inspected: 26
📤 Of those:
– 16 already distributed
– 8 ready to use
– 2 in need of repair

Huge thanks to Gregory for his dedication and attention to detail, and to Amazon for this generous donation!

If you need help with technology or would like to request a laptop, please email us at: it@seattle-envelopes.org

After our last newsletter, we received a few more summer tickets to Seattle Symphony concerts — and they were claimed quickly. But there’s still a chance more tickets will come in, so stay tuned!

And here’s what you’ve shared with us:
💬 “Yesterday, thanks to you, we went to another concert at Benaroya – we really enjoyed it. Thank you so much!” – Galina
💬 “Thank you, Masha! These concerts gave me unforgettable memories – I’ve never listened to so much beautiful music in my life. Every performance was special.” – Tatiana
💬 “Thank you for the opportunity to experience the magnificent violinist Hilary Hahn and her performance of Beethoven. A virtuoso musician and truly great music. Thank you, and looking forward to next season and more incredible musical encounters.” – Lora

Huge thanks to Masha, who coordinated this project with such care – thanks to her, many were able to enjoy this wonderful opportunity!

Want to be the first to hear about new concert tickets? Follow our updates or sign up for Masha’s email list! Questions or requests? Write to: masha@seattle-envelopes.org Feel free to send us your thoughts – we love hearing from you!

To show you exactly how your support helps, we’ve prepared a 2024 Impact Report. It highlights the programs, services, and real stories your donations made possible over the past year.

View the Impact Report and see how every contribution brings real change.

Thank you for your continuous support!

We are grateful to each of you for your support, involvement, and compassion. Thanks to you, families find help, children receive education, and our community grows stronger.

If you have the opportunity, please consider supporting our initiatives – every contribution helps us continue our work and provide assistance to those in need.

Thank you for staying with us! Your support changes lives.

• Benevity: If you work at Microsoft, Google, Salesforce, or Nvidia, use the Benevity platform for donations, and your employer will double the amount! This makes your contribution to our projects even more impactful. Please find this project, it has it’s own link!
• Zelle: Send donations through your banking app using our email donate@seattle-envelopes.org It’s an instant and secure way to support us.
• Facebook Donate: On our Facebook page, you can donate via PayPal Giving Fund with no fees.
• Zeffy: This is a convenient platform you may have already seen on our website or in QR codes. It allows you to quickly and easily support us by making a one-time donation or setting up recurring monthly contributions.

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