Search results for: syria

The Humanist Student Union from the University of North Georgia invited Foundation Beyond Belief Executive Director Dale McGowan to speak on campus as a fundraiser for FBB Crisis Response Beneficiary International Rescue Committee. The event resulted in more than $500 going to Syrian Crisis Response, with $200 of that collected from attendees at their event. We have been extremely impressed with this new BBN team, who put together a Hug an Atheist fundraiser with 24 hours’ notice that made an incredible $300 in four hours! It’s the can-do spirit of club president Devidyal Givens that sets them apart.

Devidyal explains her philosophy of philanthropy:

The most common excuse I hear when I encourage others to host events is “it’s too hard.” Either the average person has a completely different opinion of what the word “hard” means or they really don’t understand how easy it can be to set up an event, especially on a college campus. Campus groups may not realize it, but they commonly have access to ballrooms and meeting rooms free of charge. Community-centered off-campus groups can co-sponsor events with their local student groups, too.

Here are my top five suggestions:

1. Incorporate fundraising into your regular programming. Every event we host is a fundraiser for a cause. In this case, we wanted a lecture on Syria to benefit the refugees. We learn about interesting topics and raise money at the same time.
    
2. Ask your contacts for help. I put out my feelers to everyone I know that might be able to help. In this case, I contacted Foundation Beyond Belief to ask if they had anyone that could talk on Syria. I was told Dale would love to do it. That was that. We had our speaker. It took a total of one email typed in about 5 minutes and sent out to about 15 people I thought might be able to help me. All I had to do is ask. Not only that, but Beyond Belief Network staff took the text I had to advertise the event and made me a flyer.
    
3. Encourage, but don’t require, donations. I never charge money for admission to an event because I would never want to turn away a person due to lack of funds. Similarly, I never take money at the door because people that don’t have money may get that far then turn around and leave when they see money being collected. But, to remind people to bring cash, my fliers always read: “FREE ADMISSION but cash donations will be requested.” Sometimes I will put an actual amount that will be requested. I wait until they are in their seats, I have gotten their attention with some heart wrenching story and then “pass the hat.”
    
4. If you want people to come, you need them to hear about it, and not just once. The rule of thumb to always remember is that for every 50 people you invite you can expect 3 to show up. Post flyers everywhere: local businesses, bulletin boards, nearby campuses, etc. Email professors, teachers, interest groups, etc. who might send people to you. For example, for the talk on Syrian refugees, I emailed every sociology, history, psychology, Middle East studies, and political science teacher at 10 colleges and universities within an hour’s drive. I also searched the database of each of the 10 colleges for any clubs on their campus that may be interested in the event and I emailed the club’s president. Make event pages on Meetup, Facebook, and any other social media available. Advertise in your local university paper or Coalition of Reason website. Don’t stop there; you’ll need to remind people a few times before the day of the event. Make sure you make it seem like more people are going than not and that people who don’t come are missing out.
    
5. There are only so many hours in a day; you have to choose how to spend your time. I am a non-traditional student. I have 3 children and a husband at home, I work out at the gym every day, I take a full 18 credit hour course load and I have a 3.8 GPA. I am busier than almost everyone I know. The difference is what I choose to spend my time doing. Instead of hanging out with friends for a drink or watching a movie with my husband, I choose to spend my time getting people to come out to the events we host.

Putting your humanism to work takes a lot of time. It’s annoying at times and you’ll get frustrated but is it hard? Nope. It’s pretty darn easy. In the amount of time it’s taken me to type this blog post, I could have advertised enough to get 10 attendees for my next event. But it’s not difficult. It’s dedication. What are you dedicated to?

If you are dedicated to charitable service and philanthropy and would like to participate or plan events like Devidyal and the University of North Georgia Humanist Union, consider joining your local Beyond Belief Network team. If you’re already a member of a local humanist group, and would be interested in volunteering as a group, tell your group leaders about Beyond Belief Network. BBN teams can ask for FBB staff to speak at events, request our help promoting events and making flyers, and earn other perks.

The violent conflict in Syria has driven millions of refugees away from their home. These refugees are in need of help, but humanitarian agencies have received less than half of the funding they need to provide basic refugee assistance. Foundation Beyond Belief’s Humanist Crisis Response program is raising funds for International Rescue Committee to support their Syrian refugee relief efforts. To contribute, click here. As of Tuesday morning, our humanist community has raised $9,588 for this crisis.

Children make up half of Syrian refugees. These children have survived war and upheaval, and in many cases the loss of family members. The IRC and other aid organizations try to provide stability and structure for these children, but with perhaps a million refugee children and insufficient funding, this is a herculean task. Syrian refugee families in Jordan search for normalcy, but Jordan’s infrastructure struggles to meet their needs. The New York Times reports on Jordan’s overwhelmed schools — with an influx of hundreds of thousands of refugee children, Jordan is unable to accommodate all of the new prospective students. The IRC is working in Jordan to provide cash assistance and social services to help refugee families.

To learn more about the Syrian refugee crisis, click here or visit the IRC’s Syrian Crisis Storify. To donate, click here.

Millions of Syrian refugees have been displaced by the violent conflict in their home country and are in need of help, but humanitarian agencies have received less than half of the funding they need to provide basic refugee assistance. Foundation Beyond Belief’s Humanist Crisis Response program is raising funds for International Rescue Committee to support their Syrian refugee relief efforts. To contribute, click here. As of Wednesday morning, our humanist community has raised $9,308 for this crisis.

Tens of thousands of new refugees have crossed from Syria into Iraq, and the IRC is working to provide necessities such as water and sanitation. They place an emphasis on assisting the most vulnerable, including mothers with young children.

Click on the image below for an infographic that explains how the how the Syrian crisis got to where it is now, and who the refugees are. Nearly one-third of Syrians have been displaced from their homes, and half of the refugees are children.

To learn more about this crisis, click here or visit the IRC’s Syrian Crisis Storify. To donate, click here.

Millions of Syrian refugees have been displaced by the violent conflict in their home country and are in need of help, but humanitarian agencies have received less than half of the funding they need to provide basic refugee assistance. Foundation Beyond Belief’s Humanist Crisis Response program is raising funds for International Rescue Committee to support their Syrian refugee relief efforts. To contribute, click here. As of Friday morning, our humanist community has raised $8,815 for this crisis.

The IRC’s president and CEO, David Miliband, spoke with the BBC about the urgent need for a humanitarian surge to help Syrian refugees.

“There are now 5 million people inside the country displaced from their homes, 2 million in the neighboring countries, winter is coming, and so the needs are absolutely acute. And we also know that the aid contributions haven’t met the scale of the need that the UN have identified. So it’s time for a humanitarian surge.”

Among other initiatives, the IRC has been working to improve sewage systems for refugees in Iraq, providing latrines, showers, and access to clean water. In the new Arbut refugee camp, the IRC provides 80,000 liters of drinking water a day.

To learn more about this crisis, click here or visit the IRC’s Syrian Crisis Storify. To donate, click here.

As the Syrian civil war rages on, millions of Syrian refugees are displaced and in need of help, but humanitarian agencies have received less than half of the funding they need to provide basic refugee assistance. Foundation Beyond Belief’s Humanist Crisis Response program is raising funds for International Rescue Committee to support their Syrian refugee relief efforts. To contribute, click here. As of Tuesday morning, our humanist community has raised $8,485 for this crisis.

International Rescue Committee works to great a safe space and structure for displaced Syrian children. They are working to ensure that all children in refugee camps have access to education and essential services. This video shows the work they’re doing with refugee children, and the necessity of providing safe, healing spaces for children suffering from trauma.
 

To learn more about this crisis, click here or visit the IRC’s Syrian Crisis Storify. To donate, click here.

Foundation Beyond Belief’s Humanist Crisis Response program is raising funds for International Rescue Committee to support their Syrian refugee relief efforts. To contribute, click here. As of of Thursday morning, our humanist community has raised more than $5,500 for this crisis.

International Rescue Committee president and CEO David Miliband spoke with Christiane Amanpour on CNN regarding the desperate regional crisis that has displaced one-third of Syrians.

“The use of chemical weapons is the tip of the humanitarian iceberg in this Syrian crisis. One in three Syrians have been driven from their homes. Two million Syrians out of the country. … For a country like Lebanon, four million people in Lebanon; seven hundred fifty thousand Syrians arriving there. That’s like every single Briton, sixty million of us, sixty five million of us, arriving in the U.S. … And that’s why it’s right to call it a regional crisis, not just a Syrian crisis.” 

The IRC is working with refugee camps in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq. In Iraq, one of the most urgent needs is water. Some 50,000 Syrian refugees have poured into Iraq in recent weeks, and the IRC is providing both short-term and long-term solutions to ensure that everyone has access to water–particularly important when the daytime temperature often reaches 100 degrees F. The IRC’s goal is to provide 20 liters of water per day per refugee. (In contrast, consider that the average American uses about 250 liters of water per day.) This water meets the refugees’ urgent needs, preventing dehydration and enabling basic sanitation to stop the spread of disease.

To learn more about this crisis, click here or visit the IRC’s Syrian Crisis Storify. To donate, click here.

As the Syrian civil war rages on, millions of Syrian refugees are displaced and in need of help, but humanitarian agencies have received less than half of the funding they need to provide basic refugee assistance. Foundation Beyond Belief has launched an urgent fund drive in response to the worsening Syrian refugee crisis.

Our staff evaluated several charities working to aid Syrian refugees and selected International Rescue Committee as the beneficiary of our crisis response drive. The IRC is working in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq to provide the following assistance:

• In Syria, more than 700,000 vulnerable people have been served to date with medical and emergency supplies. The IRC’s Emergency Response Team is at work in camps for the displaced, providing clean water and sanitation, education to primary students, and emergency supplies to families.
   
• In Jordan, the IRC provides reproductive health care, cash assistance, and social services to refugee families, as well as counseling and other support for survivors of sexual violence. In Jordan’s refugee camps, the IRC is providing technical support for refugee women and girls and helping to reunite children with their families.
   
• In Lebanon, the IRC operates four Women’s Centers for refugees and medical consultations. They are also helping hundreds of refugee families with cash assistance, enabling them to pay for rent, food, utilities, and other essentials.
   
• In Iraq, at the Domiz camp in the north, the IRC provides camp management and a safe space for women. They are also building a secondary school for refugee children. At Al Qaim camp, near the border with Syria, the IRC is providing free legal assistance, mobilizing community groups, and helping survivors of sexual violence.

A unique aspect of the IRC’s work is its emphasis on protecting women and preventing gender-based violence in situations of mass displacement. Click here for the IRC’s latest Syrian crisis updates.

“No matter what the military or political situation is, the human situation is catastrophic. The relief organizations on the ground are doing heroic work, and the humanist community is stepping up to help,” said Dale McGowan, FBB’s executive director.

What you need to know about the Syrian refugee crisis:

• More than 2 million people are now externally displaced and 4.5 million internally displaced by the violence, a total displacement of one-third of the population of Syria. Half are children.
   
• More than 3,500 children currently in Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq crossed Syria’s borders unaccompanied or became separated from their families, according to UNICEF.
   
• Half of all Syrians are now in need of humanitarian aid.
   
• 35% of Syrian hospitals are now non-functioning; 70% of medical professionals have fled, according to the WHO.
   
• The scale of this humanitarian disaster is “unparalleled in recent history,” according to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

Donations to this crisis response drive will be forwarded continuously to the IRC. FBB retains no portion of donations. All donations to and through Foundation Beyond Belief are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Click here to make a donation.