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Community members eager to help asylum seekers

In this June 13, 2019 photo, a migrant woman sleeps on a cot inside the Portland Exposition Building in Portland, Maine. Maine's largest city has repurposed the basketball arena as an emergency shelter in anticipation of hundreds of asylum seekers who are headed to the state from the U.S. southern border. Most are arriving from Congo and Angola. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) Photo: Associated Press


PORTLAND, Maine (WGAN) Nearly 1,200 community members filed applications last week to volunteer at the Portland Expo, an emergency shelter for the influx of asylum seekers.

According to the Portland Press Herald, at least four or five general volunteers are present at all time, and twelve additional volunteers help to serve food.

Volunteers are also serving as interpreters. Some are certified, and others marked proficiency or fluency in the languages on their volunteer application.

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