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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2015
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President Xi visits Microsoft campus
Local Muslims, others come together to aid Syrian refugees abroad SAMANTHA PAK spak@redmond-reporter.com
Top, Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, talks with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, left, during a tour of Microsoft’s main campus in Redmond on Wednesday. Bottom, Xi gives a speech at Microsoft. See story below on how the Redmond Police Department and other law-enforcement agencies handled traffic during Xi’s visit. AP photos/ Ted S. Warren, Pool
Local law enforcement team up to control traffic and crowds during President Xi’s visit SAMANTHA PAK spak@redmond-reporter.com
During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to the Pacific Northwest earlier this week, one of the places he visited in those two days was the Microsoft Corp. campus in Redmond. In preparation for his visit to the tech company’s headquarters on Wednesday, the Redmond Police Department (RPD) partnered with other area law enforcement agencies, as well as Microsoft, to plan.
“There was a lot of planning,” said RPD public information officer (PIO) Becky Range. She said RPD was given preliminary notification of the possibility of the visit the week of Sept. 7. Area law enforcement agencies were given details for the visit on Sept. 15 and were asked to prepare. Range said RPD Cmdr. Erik Scairpon took the lead, forming an incident-management team and began the complex planning process needed for high-level events
of this magnitude “The police team had to plan for several aspects of the visit, including traffic control, security of the entire Microsoft area, security of a 130-plus vehicle motorcade and preparation for protesters and supporters,” Range said. She said RPD coordinated closely with Washington State Patrol — who provided the motorcade route information — to adjust the local traffic plan accordingly. She added that the tri-county scope of the motorcade col-
lectively included 240 miles of travel — unprecedented for the region. The only road in Redmond that was closed while the Chinese president was in town was Northeast 40th Street, though Range added that they did close off a few freeway ramps in the area, as well. She said when President Xi arrived at Microsoft, Northeast 40th Street was closed for 51 minutes and it was closed for 26 minutes when he was leaving the area. [ more VISIT page 9 ]
As refugees from Syria continue to make their way into Europe, members of the Muslim Association of Puget Sound in Redmond (MAPS) have been doing what they can to help. On Sunday, MAPS teamed up with the Salaam Cultural Museum (SCM) and Muslim Community Resource Center (MCRC) — based in Seattle and Redmond, respectively — to hold a clothing drive with the collected items to be donated to refugees who have fled from Syria to Jordan and other countries.
TONS OF CLOTHING
SCM Director Rita Zawaideh said they have worked with MAPS a number of times on various issues and projects and this was the second time they have done the clothing drive with the mosque. Early estimates of Sunday’s drive had them at nearly 20,000 pounds of clothes collected and Zawaideh said it was the biggest drive they have ever had. “This one,” she said Monday, “was so big we collected almost 18,000 pounds of clothing.” When final numbers
came in later in the week, Zawaideh said they collected a total of 26,933 pounds of clothes. Zawaideh said any new clothes they receive, they pack up to bring to Jordan themselves — SCM travels to that country every 45 days on humanitarian and medical missions. They bring any used clothing they receive to a Value Village store, where they are paid by the pound. That money is used to purchase specific items they can’t send or are easier to purchase in Jordan, such as baby formula, diapers and tents. When they brought in the donated clothing from Sunday, Zawaideh said store employees told them that this was also the biggest drive they had seen from a non-governmental organization (NGO). “There was overwhelming support and participation from the community,” said Nickhath Sheriff, founder of MCRC, a volunteer-based nonprofit organization that was inspired by the Together Center in Redmond and started in 2010 to connect those in need with relevant resources and service providers in the community. “Everyone wanted to help. In their own small way, the [ more AID page 8 ]
Volunteers work to load bags of donated clothing onto a truck. The clothes will go to Syrian refugees in Jordan and other countries. Courtesy of Isra Ayeshalmoutey