Grassroots Organizations Making a Big Impact in Aleppo
As many of us take time at the Holidays to spend with our family and loved ones, we cannot forget about those children and families across the world in need. While many are preparing for the Holiday season, December has been an especially brutal and difficult month in Syria, particularly in Aleppo. Through civil war, cease-fires and planned evacuations, innocent civilians are being left in the cross-fire.
For every news story about the horror in Aleppo, there is another outlining what you as an individual can do to help. While there are many large scale organizations working to alleviate the suffering in Syria, it is also important to highlight the life saving work of some of the smaller organizations working on the ground to address the dire humanitarian crisis in Aleppo. Smaller organizations tend to focus more of their resources of programmatic work within the region, meaning your donation goes directly to relief efforts.
As you are looking for ways to help, consider two grassroots organizations with boots on the ground directly and effectively providing for those in most need: Nu Day Syria and Syria Relief and Development.
Nu Day Syria
Nu Day Syria was founded by Nadia Alawa out of her home back in 2011. As the birthplace of her father and her husband, Alawa felt especially called to support in the wake of the revolution and the ensuing civil war. Alawa has centered the mission of Nu Day Syria around helping those most vulnerable, women and children with no male breadwinner in their family. Nu Day Syria has hosted many campaigns on Mightycause, raising nearly $300,000 on the platform since 2014.
With a campaign running since earlier this fall, recent events have made their needs more desperate to raise funds for their work in Syria. Nu Day Syria posted an update to their campaign to share how they are working to support those in Eastern Aleppo during this time of crisis: “Until middle of December, NuDay Syria’s campaign was centered right inside Aleppo. That has all changed as of December 14th with everyone leaving the Eastern area and lives hanging on a string. The need for food and emergency shelter for evacuated families is now the priority and NuDay Syria will continue our efforts. Our work will now be focused on welcoming desperate and traumatized children and families to NuDay Syria’s area in Northern Idlib. We are going to move families into buildings instead of freezing tents and will be cooking meals around the clock.”
Syria Relief and Development
Syria Relief and Development (SRD) was founded in November 2011 by Syrian-Americans Dr. Jihad Qaddour and his daughter Jomana Qaddour, to provide humanitarian relief to Syrian civilians amid conflict in the country. Syria Relief and Development has hosted many campaigns on Mightycause, raising nearly $150,000 on the platform since 2013.
In response to the escalating crisis in Aleppo, SRD has started a fundraiser to providing humanitarian relief and aid to Syrians fleeing the violence in Aleppo. Their team is “urgently mobilizing to provide a safe haven, medical aid (including psychosocial support), food, non-food items (NFIs) and heating supplies to the large number of Syrians who have fled Aleppo seeking safety and shelter in nearby areas…Humanitarian conditions in the area are dire and access to food and water is scarce.”
If you’ve already made your donation, you can continue to show your support. Both of these campaigns have gotten the majority of their donations through people just like you sharing their campaigns on social media. If you believe in the work they are doing, and want to help support a locally-driven response to the current crisis in Aleppo, please share this post, or the direct links to the fundraising campaigns above.