Emergency Relief for Refugee Families in Greece

Dear friends,

We struggle to find food supplies for our distributions to Refugee kids and families.

Our priority is kids’ nutrition and trauma healing. We need to find food supplies rich in vitamins. Even basic needs can’t be covered ,like FRESH or canned MILK.

 
Since the beginning of 2017 we are facing huge problems with the amount of products companies donate to us, as they have been greatly reduced by 50-60%!!!  At the same time,the requests for distributions have skyrocketed!

The freezers we use are no longer enough. Families in need have proliferated and their number keeps increasing. We kindly request your aid in food maintenance by buying freezers to care for children and youths 15-27 that are in danger of social exclusion.

We need to buy a fridge as soon as possible for the safe maintenance of delicate products, especially now that the summer is approaching and the temperature is rising, since we do not endanger the childrens’ health!

A new big fridge costs 4000€ euros , a used one 3000€. We are also in need of VOLUNTEERS! Any help would be welcome! We would be more than happy to work with you in helping refugees and Greeks ! Solidarity and initiative is essential more than ever! HUG humans united globally is asking all of us to support the children living in Greece...

The economic crisis has greatly damaged Youth's health, their incapacity to afford housing, the fact that they can't get any access to universities due to their povrety, ...or even worst they can't afford to feed themselves. The situation in Greece has created a generation of youths (ranging from 10 to 25 years old) that is an impoverished and underpriviledged one. This generation will soon start having kids of its own...

Our H.U.G. FOUNDATION (Humans United Globally), extends Kid & Family's work to ages 15-27 due to the massive number of requests that one organization cannot respond by it’s own, because of the drastic increase in needs in infancy and early childhood as well as adolescence, amongst Greeks and refugees. A second generation has already begun to be destroyed. The data pertain to 2015, but we still lack data for 2016 and 2017. Our mental health center is currently the only institution in Greece for children and young adults. At the same time,the public university appartements accomodating students have been been reduced from 48 to 7 appartement complexes, and the employees have been greatly reduced: from 46 to just 8 people! This is because of all the reductions imposed to the Greek public sector by the IMF!

This is also the reason the number of care workers in state hospitals has been reduced to such an extent. Instead of establishing new care units for children in hospitals, to aleviate the decadent physical and mental health of minors, our hospitals are flooded with refugees with only half the work force they had in 2008. By offering economic support here, you are helping Kid & Family continue to support children between 0-10 years old, and HUG to extend Kid & Family's work to ages ranging from 15-27 years old -the age spectrum most severely impacted by the current crisis. Uneployment rates in this age group are as high as 75% . Meanwhile, the prevalence rates for mental illnesses in childhood and adolescence have risen to 20% of children and youth in Greece according to official Eurostat reports!

Unemployment and mental illnesses are ravaging the tenderest age group of Greece! We are appealing to everyone, to help united as a HUG ,to reestablish the proper coverage of basic needs such as the need for food, housing and the right to education, to the generation most harmed by the ongoing economic crisis. In order for this to be realized, we ask for your support in spreading the news of this important effort of citizens and NGOs like 'Kid &Family' and 'HUG' that care for children and youths in Greece! 

Soon we will invite you to a global symposium with the subject of restoration of the lives and dignity of children brought upon by the economic crisis .You will receive an invitation fir participation.

URGENT NEEDS:

FOOD SUPPLIES,

at least on of each ... FRIDGE and FRIZER!

Thank you for your continued support of our efforts,

warm regards,

Dear Friends,

Once again we cannot stress how grateful we are to all of you and to Global Giving for the invaluable response and support to the ongoing refugee crisis in Greece.

Our work with so many refugee families, after Greece became the gateway to Europe for a record number of refugees and migrants, has left us with mixed feelings. On the one hand with your help and hands on aid from both local and International volunteers we have been witness and instrumental to keeping children and families alive, fed and clothed, while on the otherhand we experience a growing sense of futility because of the lack of coordination, decent housing, health care, safety, education and programmes of intergration.

Unfortunately despite the huge influx of aid incompetence on all sides has led to the problem becoming more acute, funds have been wasted, people have become mere numbers, resentment has been fueled and we have seen a rise in violence and crime. To add to the growing discontent Greek families too are beginning to live like refugees in their own country because of the ongoing financial crisis . The result has had lethal cosequences and it has come to affect the more vulnerable groups of refugees the most! The worst cosequence however is the drop in morale and the growth of indifference because of a problem that has dragged on and that doesn't seem to have a quick fix solution. Children might not be dying on the shores of Greece but they are living without hope for a dignified future!!

In order to fight the lack of solidarity we have introduced our project H.U.G (Humans United Globally) where refugees and local residents are called upon to work and live together. We have managed to get both refugees and Greek citizens in need both participating as volunteers and sharing free art, music, sports and psychology workshops in order to strenghthen their relationship and to find common ground from which they can build a better, safer and more productive future. We are also in the process of setting up decent accommodation in the centre of Athens both for Greek students in need and refugee families starting a new life. It goes without saying that we are in dire need of funds to keep reaching our goals.

In an environment where the word "refugee" carries with it so many negative conotations because of the way International politics is dealing with this humanitarian crisis, Kid & Family is desperately trying to value each and every human being that has been displaced due to war and poverty. Through ou project H.U.G  we have made it our mission to join forces with other NGO's in order to find a way to turn this humanitarian disaster into a learning tool for all of us that want children and families to live in peace and prosperity.

TOGETHER WE CAN INVEST IN THE GROWTH OF SOLIDARITY RATHER THAN THAT OF DISCONTENT

Help us extend a HUG to all the children and families in need, with your help whether it is through your donations or by sharing our call for help with your friends, family and community you will be instrumental in keeping the flame of humanitarian aid alive and our resolve as strong as the harsh reality requires!