Syrian Refugees in Kurdistan in Great Need

So there are more than 2 million Syrian refugees in the world. It is estimated that half of them are children. More than 250,000 of those refugees live in camps throughout the Kurdistan region where I live.

I said something awhile back about how some people I know co-founded an organization called the RISE Foundation. They're amazing. It's volunteer-only. Not a penny goes anywhere except for straight to things that are needed for the refugees.

Just yesterday, Dr. Amer (one of the co-founders) bought 800 small stoves which will be distributed to refugee families living in Qushtapa near Erbil.

I've kind of gone head on into fundraising and donation drives. We've got four locations set up throughout the city where people can donate food and daily necessities. We've got two weekly fundraisers. And yesterday I finally managed to set up an online donation system.

We're having another fundraiser come up soon. The local Oktoberfest celebration has a raffle and all proceeds go to RISE. Then we're having a beer pong championship a week later and all the entry fees go to RISE and we're taking donations throughout the night.

Our next goal is $6,000. We want make food packages to give to each of the families living in one of the nearby camps. We figure with the food donations we're getting plus another $10 family, we should be able to give them a pretty good package.

Please share and donate!

Fundraising and Charity Part 2: Find a Organization in Iraq to Support

I almost wish I could afford to quit my job and put all my time and effort into fundraising and finding sponsors and donors for local organizations who need help and support in order to do the outreach they really want to do. The outreach that they're really needed to do.

There are so many great causes in Iraq that could use the extra help. If any of you is ever feeling charitable or especially if you know of a company that would want to make a large donation, let me know. I have multiple organizations to choose from for which I can give you ample information and I can personally put you in touch with the people in charge who I trust and know are doing everything they can for their organizations.

Fundraising and Charity Part 1: Quiz Night and Orphans

It's interesting to me that I neglected to get very involved in my community until I moved to Iraq, but then again, I guess of all the places I've lived, this is the one most sorely in need. 

I did volunteer work here and there back home. And I would always put unwanted clothes in clothing donation boxes rather than simply throwing them out. But those were the easy things. The things that didn't take up much of my time or effort. (Because honestly back then I had very little time or effort to give...)

I'm taking it a little further here though.