💙 We are in URGENT need of all kinds of donations and supplies
We currently only have enough of some supplies to last for the next two weeks. We most urgently need children and adults underwear all sizes, children and adult socks all sizes, deodorant, toothbrushes, razors, shampoo and laundry washing powder.
Some more supplies are on they way to us and those will help a lot but they will not arrive until two more weeks. If you can donate funds, please use this paypal me account. Hannah, a dedicated Iris volunteer, has kindly offered to collect the donations until the paperwork for the Iris NGO is approved and a bank account can be opened for it.
If you can send supplies, please email us at Iriscenterchios@gmail.com and we can arrange it together.
As of June 22, 2018 CESRT has stopped sending us supplies and funds so if you have contributed to CESRT on behalf of HOPE/Iris in the past and would like to continue, please contact us at Iris directly for that going forward. Thank you.
💙 We urgently need volunteers on the ground and remotely
Due to the support of some of you directly and your referrals, we should have enough volunteers to run the center through the end of July (and we are always happy to have more). We would really appreciate your help in spreading the word to try and get more volunteers on the ground for the rest of the year.
We also have a small remote team supporting Iris and would love for more people to join us. If you have time to contribute from home in the areas of operations, volunteer recruiting, social media, video editing, fundraising or legal advice we would be very happy to hear from you. You can email us at iriscenterchios@gmail.com.
💙 About Iris
Iris helps more than 1,200 visitors and distributes more than 13,000 items each month!
We support refugee children and parents in Chios by giving them a place to get distributions of clothes and hygiene items and have showers, relax, have a snack and play while they wait. It’s an absolutely critical service for the refugees, especially now that they are stuck in Chios for longer and longer. It provides them with a place to get supplies they need to survive there for long periods of time and with a place they can go to escape the harsh conditions that they live in every day.
The Iris volunteers run the center by each taking a specific role for a shift (you can change roles each shift or each day). The roles are about giving hygiene supplies for the shower area and to take with them, helping to pick clothes from the donated clothes wardrobe, doing planned activities with the children and parents, playing outside games with the children and parents, welcoming and registering the visitors to Iris, stocking and managing the supplies and coordinating special projects.