Board of Aldermen Page 7
September 14, 2016
Ms. Martha C. Alvarado, 18 Gettysburg Drive
| come from Colombia and | attend an English class and | also do a lot of volunteering for the Nashua
community. | became a US citizen in 2009 and now | am able to go out and vote.
Ms. Jennifer McCormack, 4 Casco Drive
| am here in support of the Welcoming resolution and | wanted to know the Board of Aldermen that
welcoming work is already happening at the library. It’s one of the goals that we stated in our strategic
plan for the next five years and one of the activities under there is being host of the Cultural Navigator
Team. It’s a fantastic team of volunteers working towards immigrant integration and partnership with the
library and the Adult Learning Center and proud to be friends of all of these people. Embracing diversity
and being welcoming only makes us stronger and richer as a city and a community. I’ve only lived in
Nashua for three months but the fact that this is before the Board and | can support it makes me really
proud to be not just your library director but a resident too.
Ms. Manasi Kakade, 14 Baldwin Street
| was born in India and | have been living in the United States for thirteen years. | am an engineer, a
marketer and an entrepreneur. | coach fellow professionals on how to communicate their ideas and
expertise with clarity and confidence so they can be even more of contributing citizens to this country.
My husband is a research scientist so we are both contributing to Nashua. | strongly support this
initiative because there are many immigrants like me who want to be part of this city and feel welcome.
Thank you for bringing this forward.
Mr. Syed Jafri, 50 Majestic Avenue
| was born and raised in Pakistan and have been in the United States for the last 23 years, more than
half my life now. | have been a resident of Nashua for the last 11 years. | did my Masters in Business
from Rivier University and have given 30 donations through Red Cross as a way of an initiative to pay
forward to the community | live in. | have been at working at local masses and churches and soup
kitchens, and | would highly request the committee to declare Nashua a Welcoming City to create an
environment that is collective and welcoming to newcomers from all around the world. Thank you.
Mr. Muhammad Akbar, 9 Clydesdale Circle
| came to the United States about 29 years ago. | was in Louisiana and then all the way to South Dakota
and then to Nashua. This is the place that | stayed most. This is my 15" year already. | support the
Welcoming City for Nashua. | think | feel welcomed already before this imitative took place. | love our
community, and | love all the support that | get from the community. | have volunteers for the Islamic
Society of Greater Nashua. | am volunteering as its president. | also volunteer for our people who come
from Myanmar. | speak the same language even though I’m from Bangladesh. If they need help for
anything, calling anywhere because they can’t speak English, | interpret for them. | also do taxes for
them personally. | also help them if they need help if they can’t pay rent or need a car. | really like this
initiative. This should be the welcoming city a long time ago. | felt that all the time. | thank you,
Honorable Mayor Jim Donchess and the Board of Aldermen and President. Thank you.
Ms. Gloria Timmons, on behalf of Linda Gathright, 28 Marian Lane
| live at 3 Rodean Drive in Nashua. On behalf of Linda and the Nashua Community Conservation on
Race and Justice, we welcome America here. I’ve been here all my life. | can’t give you stories about
when | came which is probably decades through the passage of slavery back in the day. Jim Donchess
and the Board of Aldermen; thank you and welcome America.
