A Christmas Gift for a Syrian Refugee Family

The Syria conflict has many tragic stories. It can feel overwhelming, and the scale of it all can prevent people from knowing how to help.

But what if this Christmas, you could reach out right now help one family rebuild their lives? What if, in the spirit of the holiday season, you could take these sweet kids out of a tent and put a warm, dry roof over the heads within a few short weeks? 

Would you do it?

I'm an archaeologist who worked for over a decade in Syria. Returning summer after summer, I made friends with the people I met there, including one family with small children who became like a second family for me. Unfortunately, when war came to Syria in 2011, it came particularly brutally to the area of northern Syria where our archaeological site is located. First there were various rebel groups, then the scourge of ISIS. The village where my friends and their kids lived was fought over, changing hands multiple times. Their lives were in danger. It became impossible to live in the village, and most families fled to the larger towns or to refugee camps nearby. In their absence, their house fell into disrepair. All the furnishings were looted. Part of the roof collapsed. All their other belongings, gone. 

Since then, this family has struggled to survive. One daughter just had twins, and there are small grandchildren to support. Another daughter has a baby with a birth defect that needs medical treatment. The family is now split up - some in a refugee camp, some renting a small apartment in an adjoining town, where they pay nearly all their meager income in rent. They still own their house back in the village, but it’s uninhabitable and, since their meager income has to go to basic survival, they haven't been able to earn enough money to repair it. The parents are getting on in years, and both have health conditions that require medicines whose prices have skyrocketed because of the costs of smuggling the medicine in from Turkey. I've been sending them a few hundred dollars every month to help out with living expenses, but they would be so much better off back in their own house, back in their own life, putting that rent money into food, blankets, and bedding for their kids.

For Christmas this year, my kids and I are raising money to help get these kids and their family back in their house through NuDay Syria, an award-winning charity we've supported for years. NuDay Syria is a registered 501c3 and all donations are tax-deductible. EIN 46-2041995. Whether you can give $5 or $500, every penny of your contribution will go directly to this family.

This holiday season, you truly can't find a better cause. These are good people trying to survive in nearly impossible circumstances. You can reach out right now and help, and wouldn't that make your holidays a little brighter?

Thanks in advance for your contribution. It means so much to us, and to this family.

 More information about NuDay: NuDay Syria is a non-profit organization focused on bringing humanitarian aid inside Syria and helping displaced Syrians in the border areas around Syria. They focus on empowering women by and families by bringing housing and food to displaced families with single mothers or wounded family members. They are especially concerned with the lack of safe shelter and living for single mothers with daughters.