Fire devastates enormous Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh

More than 400 people are missing and 15 confirmed dead after a fire at the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh. An estimated 45,122 people have been affected — mostly all Rohingya, who fled Myanmar from ethnic cleansing in 2017. Many are seeking shelter in nearby camps, friends or families’ shelters, and learning centers, according…

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Celebrating Imelda: guest post from Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project

FBB is proud to share this post from our partners at the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project.  In this Women's History Month, "we at the Florence Project celebrate the strong, resilient women who inspire us every day: our clients who are mothers, daughters, sisters, and survivors. We celebrate Imelda.  Imelda grew up in the mountains…

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Refugee Children at the U.S. Border

Humanist Crisis Response is now raising funds for The Florence Immigration and Refugee Rights Project and KIND (Kids In Need of Defense), two organizations helping refugee children from Central America who are attempting to enter the United States. The child migration crisis in the United States continues to escalate. The Obama Administration estimates up to 90,000 children from Latin American…

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Humanist Crisis Response continues to raise funds for refugee children

In this video, learn more about our current Humanist Crisis Response drive to raise funds for refugee children at the U.S. border. To date, our community has raised more than $3,000 for our benefiaires, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) and the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project. Click here to donate. Thanks to David…

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Humanists support refugee children at the U.S. border

En Español. Humanist Crisis Response, a joint program of Foundation Beyond Belief and the American Humanist Association, is launching a drive to raise funds for the legal representation of the more than 50,000 child refugees who have fled poverty and violence to reach the southern border of the United States over the last few months.…

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The Humanist Student Union from the University of North Georgia collected more than $200 to help Syrian refugees

Beyond Belief NetworkThe 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.

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Syrian Refugee Relief

      The Humanist Crisis Response program of Foundation Beyond Belief serves as a focal point for the humanist response to major humanitarian crises. Our purpose is twofold: to bring resources to those in desperate need, and to raise awareness of that need in the humanist community and beyond. Photo: UNHCR. Used with permission via…

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Syrian refugee children: The lost generation

Humanist Crisis Response

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 DonateResponse 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.

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