For those of you who have already sponsored me (thank you!) or those of you who are considering pledging at some point I thought this would be useful for you to know…
Six ways your donations to the UNHCR help the refugees:
- $50 helps register 150 exhausted refugees to assess their needs and trace their families
- $80 provides tents to shelter a family of five
- $100 gives a family a survival kit including blankets plus a cooking/heating stove
- $200 pays for emergency health for a community
- $500 creates two wells to provide clean water to a community of refugees
- $1000 gives a feeding kit that will feed 100 children
Even if you only pledge $5, it all accumulates and gets put towards any one of these things, whichever is most in need at any given time.
Sometimes people are put off by the registration assistance. How is that as helpful as blankets or food or clean water to drink? The truth is it’s VERY important for refugees to be registered at the various UN-supported camps. Without registration a refugee can’t be assured of consistent help, be it food or water or a place to sleep. Also, families often become separated when they flee a war-torn region. Parents may be separated from their children, spouses may not know where the other is, siblings may worry that they didn’t get out safely. By registering, a refugee can try to locate important people when they arrive at a safe location.
Every bit of money donated helps in a very serious way. Please don’t think that what you can spare is too little – it’s not. When you have no money at all, no home, no food, and no help other than a wonderful organization like the UNHCR, there’s no such thing as too little.
Please consider sponsoring me while I do the Blogathon for the UNHCR!
