The Syrian conflict began as a peaceful protest in March 2011, during the Arab Spring, but turned into a brutal civil war that has left more than 200,000 dead and caused as many as 10,000 people a day to flee the country. Those helping with the migration and resettlement of the nation’s 6.5 million refugees are overwhelmed.
Quartz has assembled a list of nonprofit organizations that support Syrian refugees by providing shelter, food, educational opportunities, medical supplies, emergency assistance, or general donations. The list is broken down by organization type: those that are large, international groups or umbrella organizations; those focused specifically on relief for children; those operating in Europe; those operating in countries neighboring Syria; and those with a religious affiliation.
- Goal Global supports local bakeries to provide more bread, repairs water infrastructure and homes, provides vocational training, and delivers food, clean water, and winter kits.
Donate to Goal Global here.
- Karam Foundation aims ”not to provide bandaids,” but technological equipment, microfinance grants, ambulances, psychological services, and art programs, in addition to the necessary distribution of food and infant formula and winter supplies.
Donate to Karam Foundation here.
- Medical Teams International tries to prevent illness by monitoring common infectious diseases, distributing hygiene supplies, training volunteers to recognize symptoms, and providing primary healthcare and dental care.
Donate to Medical Teams International here.
- Mercy Corps supports Syrian refugees by providing clean water, hygiene supplies, food aid, kitchen supplies, infrastructure renovation at refugee shelters, winter kits, psychological services, and vocational training.
Donate to Mercy Corps here.
If you would like to focus on relief for children:
- Save the Children repairs Syrian schools, pays school fees and materials for Syrian refugees, trains and provides salaries to one thousand teachers, and provides basic services like water, clothes, psychological care, medical assistance, and food.
Donate to Save the Children here.
If you would like to focus on efforts in Europe:
- Boat Refugee Foundation (Stichting Bootvluchteling) is a Dutch organization that provides emergency aid and supplies to refugees arriving by boat to Malta, Lesbos, and Kos.
Donate to Boat Refugee Foundation here.
- Pro-Activa Open Arms is a Barcelona-based team of lifeguards stationed on the shorelines of the Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios to help rescue Syrian refugees from capsized boats in the Mediterranean Sea.
Donate to Pro-Activa Open Arms here.
- Project HOPE, which focuses on providing medicines and health education to disadvantaged people, ships medical supplies to refugee camps in Macedonia.
Donate to Project HOPE here.
- Starfish Foundation works at the shorelines of Lesbos, Greece, to hand out dry clothes and food to those arriving to Europe and also has a central bus service to transfer Syrian refugees to a registration center in Mytilini.
Donate to Starfish Foundation here or through its Amazon $AMZN wishlist here.
- Basmeh & Zeitooneh, which means smile and olive in Arabic, was founded by Syrian expats in Lebanon to provide welcoming community centers in Beirut, Lebanon, and Gaziantep, Turkey, for medical assistance, vocational training, art workshops, and tutoring. Basmeh & Zeitooneh also gives food to those in need and helps families with rent.
Donate to Basmeh Zeitooneh here.
- Collateral Repair Project, a Jordanian-based nonprofit founded by Americans, helps Iraqi and Syrian refugees with basic food and housing assistance, after-school programs for children, technology and English classes, and community building events and activities, since Jordanian law prohibits refugees from working.
Donate to Collateral Repair Project here.
- Concern Worldwide operates in Lebanon, Turkey, and within Syria to improve sanitation and hygiene with clean water and clothing, provide winter kits and other shelter supplies, support formal education with a Syrian curriculum in Turkey and a Lebanese curriculum in Lebanon, and establish collective centers and psychological services.
Donate to Concern Worldwide here.
- Shelterbox, a British nonprofit that specializes in compact emergency kits tailor-made to a certain crisis, donates tents, shelter supplies, cookware, water filters, mosquito nets, and school supplies to Syrian refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan, Lebanon, Jordan, Greece, and Syria.
Donate to ShelterBox here.
- Syria Relief is a British-based organization that provides medical aid, psychological services, clean water, food packages and their distribution, monetary and emotional support for orphans, school sponsorships, clothing, cooking utensils, and shelter essentials, such as mattresses and heaters, to Syrian refugees.
Donate to Syria Relief here.
- International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) works within Syria to distribute food aid, infant formula, clothing, blankets, hygiene supplies, rent support, psychological services, school supplies, and vocational training.
Donate to International Orthodox Christian Charities here.
- World Relief is an international Christian organization that collaborates with local churches in Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, and Syria to distribute emergency supplies, temporary shelters, and psychological services. World Relief also coordinates refugee resettlement in the US and Germany.
Donate to World Relief here.
