Packs for Friends

First Unitarian Church of Omaha is supporting a new community mutual aid group called Packs for Friends, based out of Omaha, Nebraska.

Every day, people detained in Nebraska and Iowa by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) face isolation, uncertainty, and barriers to accessing support. Many have no legal representation, no advocate, and no one checking in on their well-being.

Did you know that most individuals from Iowa and Nebraska go through the Omaha field office for deportation?

Packs For Friends is a community-organized mutual aid ecosystem delivering backpacks with essentials to those leaving detention for deportation. The backpacks are tailored to individual needs. Through communication, connection, and compassionate outreach, volunteers help ensure that people are not navigating detention alone or facing deportation with nothing.

Since June 2026, ICE has been implementing expedited deportation from the Omaha field office. This is where detained people can get personal belongings or a backpack for their journey. Our goal is to ensure that each person deported has something when they arrive back to their country of origin.

The pilot group was formed in Omaha in April 2026 when Ahmed, a young adult who was detained and deported from Iowa, left with nothing. All he wanted was a backpack with essentials, and he was denied that.

If you've been looking for a meaningful way to support immigrant communities and provide mutual aid for these quickly expanding needs, we would love to have the following items for our backpacks:

• Pants (no text or graphics)

• Shorts (no text or graphics)

• Shirts (no text or graphics)

• Gym Shoes

• Socks (new only)

• Underwear (new only)

• Toothbrushes

• Toothpastes (travel size)

• Shampoo (travel size)

• Soap (travel size)

• USB-C chargers

In the next week, a donation box will be placed next to the food pantry donation box outside the Common Room. Items collected will head to the central Omaha collection space for distribution to those in need. 

Thank you for your support!