SUPPORT FOR REFUGEES IN CHIOS AND ATHENS
I will soon be returning to Greece on my 9th aid trip to support refugees, both directly and through small grassroots organizations. As I have done each time I will be volunteering in Athens and on the island of Chios, one of the first entry points on the most frequented refugee route into the EU. My teenage son will be working with me for a second time.
Nedim and I ask you to join us virtually by contributing to this fundraising campaign. Your donations are fully tax-deductible through my 501c3 non-profit affiliation, and the full amount will go towards supporting refugees currently stranded in Greece.
The “Greek refugee crisis,” as it has been termed, is now in its 4th year. Instead of improving, however, the situation has become steadily worse—even as it has all but disappeared off the media cycle. On the islands thousands of people are spending a 4th winter in abominable conditions, many of them in summer tents with no heat, electricity, running water or decent sanitation.
ALL DONATIONS TO THIS CAMPAIGN ARE FULLY TAX DEDUCTIBLE
through my affiliation with Lifting Hands International, a 501c3 non-profit (EIN: 81-1708977)
The food they are given is grossly inadequate and often inedible. On the mainland, volunteer organizations are struggling to provide food and supplies to the thousands of people forced to live in squats. There are often urgent calls to house families sleeping in the street with young children. Everywhere, people’s mental health has declined under the burden of these conditions.
The aid needed ranges from supplying basics such as shoes, clothes, diapers or food, to helping with more complex needs such as finding housing and sourcing medical or legal assistance.
This fundraising campaign aims to support: The Chios People’s Kitchen: a refugee-run and donation-funded kitchen that has operated continuously since December 2015. It serves daily hot meals to the students at Action for Education, the clients of the Athena Women's Center, the unaccompanied minors at the Metadrasi shelter, and refugee families living in apartments. It also distributes packages of dry food to residents of Vial Camp, thus giving them the opportunity to cook nutritious meals for themselves. The Pampiraiki Group: operating out of a large warehouse space in Athens, this well-established organization supplies food, clothing and other needed items to the nearly 2000 refugees—including hundreds of children—who live in unofficial squat housing, as well as to others in mainland and island camps.
Other organizations I have had the opportunity to support in the past (and would like to again) include: The Amurtel Center for Refugee Mothers and Babies; Cribs International; The Athena Center for Women; The Chios People’s Warehouse; Refugee Education Chios (now renamed). Another project we would ideally like to help is Our House, which renders aid to the homeless of Athens. I also support a number of unaccompanied minors who are currently in Greece, Ireland and Germany, as well as two families in Athens (one of whom has considerable expenses related to their disabled child.)
What aid we are able to personally bring to any of these very worthy causes will depend on your contributions. 100% of donations (minus the fundraising platform fees unless you choose to cover them) will go towards supporting refugees; Nedim and I are covering our own expenses.
A reference to some of what I do:
http://www.wcvb.com/article/greece-helping-from-home/12468162
THANK YOU!
Leslie Meral Schick
PomegranateAid