Summer Learning in the Time of COVID

Bob Marshall and Michael LaPointe of Biga Pizza have gone above and beyond to support new Americans in Missoula. In 2020, Biga Pizza began partnering with the IRC in Missoula to employ newly arrived refugees. Michael, with over twenty years of restaurant experience, has been instrumental in this initiative, recognizing the challenges refugees face and providing them with the support needed to adapt to a new culture and work environment. This commitment has not only benefited the employees but has also enriched the entire Missoula community, showcasing the profound impact of compassion and inclusivity in business.

Among the many challenges that 2020 brought to many around the world, the closing of international borders and travel restrictions as a result of the pandemic further limited the already dwindling number of refugees accepted by the Trump Administration. Prior to the pandemic, the Trump Administration had reduced the number of refugees the United States was committed to welcoming. At the onset of the pandemic, the arrivals of refugees to Tallahassee halted altogether, and it wasn’t until the end of 2020 that new families began to arrive across Big Bend communities. This time, the newly arrived families were coming from Latin America. This was a first for the IRC in Tallahassee’s short four-year history, which has historically welcomed families from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Syria.

Natalie El-Deiry, former deputy director who co-founded Spice Kitchen Incubator and strived to expand and deepen other strategic initiatives, started in her new role as executive director in April 2019.