Syrian Refugee Relief Fund

Thank you for your generous donation to the Syrian Refugee Relief Fund. Donations to this GlobalGiving fund have been supporting Syrian refugees and internally displaced communities for more than 10 years.

Our team recently completed a round of flexible, trust-based grants in support of vetted organizations based in Lebanon. These trusted organizations are responding to the urgent and long-term needs of Syrians facing food, employment, and housing insecurity because of the extreme economic crisis that is crippling communities across Lebanon. The situation for Syrian refugees in Lebanon is particularly precarious these days. On top of Lebanon's economic crisis, there are frequent documentation and arrest raids and forced repatriations of refugees back to Syria.

We made four grants to high-impact and community-led nonprofit organizations based in Lebanon at the forefront of this increasingly protracted — and complex — displacement crisis. Here is a short description of the critical work you’ve supported across the country: 

• Social Guidance Association provides engaging children's programs and mobile laundry services to serve the practical needs of Syrian refugees living in camps while filling gaps in education and youth enrichment. Additionally, the nonprofit operates two mobile counseling units — which support both refugees and Lebanese with a special focus on offering counseling sessions for women and children. The counselors then treat potential mental issues like PTSD, depression, anxiety, social withdrawal, negative coping strategies, and communication barriers among family members.

• Union of Relief and Development Associations runs programs for Syrians, Palestinians, Lebanese and other refugees through their Ebdaa Center where children can interact and safely express themselves. The organization also supports both refugee and Lebanese families to access critical care they otherwise could not afford. URDA believes it is important to "not treat the issues of one group," but to support the "whole community" to create holistic, sustainable solutions and resolve community-wide issues.

• FoodBlessed is a local hunger-relief initiative that works with businesses and civil society to reduce the number of people going hungry in Lebanon, including Syrian refugees. The nonprofit provides food packages to Syrian refugees across the country — many of whom are outside the traditional aid system, and living in the city, or under the radar without official registration with international organizations. Currently, FoodBlessed operates a food kitchen that offers weekly hot meals, and 300-400 family food boxes per month. Alongside Syrians, FoodBlessed supports migrant workers, drug users, members of the LGBTQIA+ community among others, knowing these communities face heightened discrimination and barriers to living out their full rights in society.

• Naba'a / Developmental Action without Borders continues to distribute emergency relief items and hygiene kits to displaced families, as well as provide psychological support to Syrian and Palestinian children impacted by the recent conflict in Ein-el-Hilweh camp. The nonprofit does this through referrals to psychologists, during which they can also offer shoes and clothes to those displaced. The organization’s aim is to serve more than 400 children in the coming months, particularly those with the highest levels of needs following their tragic and sudden displacement from the camp. 

Your support of the GlobalGiving Syrian Refugee Relief Fund powers community-led responses. It means Syrian refugees facing increasing challenges across Lebanon and beyond get the critical resources they need to not only survive but thrive more than 10 years after many of them fled their home and left their homeland behind. 

Thank you, we cannot say it enough.

With gratitude, 

Kyra + the GlobalGiving Team