Giving Tuesday: Helping Refugees with Your Donation

#GivingTuesday is one week away, and that means it’s time to make a difference. So, here’s a quick “101” on how your #GivingTuesday donation to USA for UNHCR will change the lives of refugees this winter.

This year, our goal is to raise enough funding to provide 862 refugee families with special kits to keep them warm as they face another long winter away from home. Each kit includes five thermal blankets, one plastic sheet and a heating stove with gas — crucial supplies for a family enduring another winter in a makeshift shelter with little to protect them from the cold, snow and ice.

Parents like Hamra and Malek, who were forced to flee Aleppo with their two young children and found safety in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. The family’s shelter is cobbled together with little more than tarps and weathered plywood. A series of 2x4s linked together sustain a roof.

“It snows, it rains and we freeze,” said Hamra.

Last winter, the family received a winter survival kit and was able to reinforce their shelter.

“Before we received the plastic sheets, the state of the tent was terrible, rain was leaking on us,” said Hamra.

UNHCR is on the ground, providing these kits to refugees in places like the Bekaa Valley, which hosts more than 335,000 Syrian refugees. In one winter alone, the UN Refugee Agency helped 24,000 families insulate their shelters in Lebanon.

It’s about basic protection for refugees, and it’s also about providing hope.

So, as you consider where to make your precious #GivingTuesday donation this season, we wanted to share exactly how your contribution will be used, and give you a better idea of who you’ll be helping, families like Hamra’s – those for whom blankets, a plastic sheet and a source of heat will make a world of difference.

It’s a matter of survival, yes, but it’s also a foundation for a better future.

Thank you for standing with refugees this #GivingTuesday.