Posted on

Iris Center Update

Dear all Iris center friends 🙏🌷🥰

I want to say thank you so much to all of you for doing an amazing job in this surreal time. I want to say a special thank you so much to sister Shirley and sister @Ruhi Lauren Akhtar for continue to do aid distribusjons under the current difficult circumstances. Without their heroic effort the Iris center team would not be able to help 🙏🥰

We’re facing so difficult times this days and it’s very important we stay together and support each other 🌷
I can’t imagine how difficult it is for you guys in the camp. I daily get messages from people in need of everything and they tell me about that they’re starving 😓
We’ve had the possibility to distribute some strollers in Vial, and we’re constantly working on distributing aid to the people in need …

We also do distributions in the apartments as usual with toiletries, pampers, milk powder and porridge powder. We continue helping mothers giving birth at the hospital with toiletries, pampers, clothes and strollers.
Iris center teams work is a collaborative project without all our supporters, friends, donations of aid and money we would not be able to help – a big thank you so much to all of you 🙏🌷🥰

Thank you so much to the other organizations we cooperate with:
✨ Our Czech friends
✨ Carry The Future
✨ Chios Eastern Shore Response Team – CESRT
✨ Støttegruppa for Iris senter
✨ Refugee Biriyani & Bananas
✨ and many good hearted friends

Thank you so much to all Iris center team members – together we’re stronger 💪😍

Stay safe, take care with clean hands 🙌🙏🥰

We always need donations so please donate if you’ve the possibility 🙏

Every penny is used where it’s most needed for our sisters and brothers on the run 👍🌷

Thank you so much in advance 🌈

The Iris center team is an registered Norwegian NGO situated on Chios, Greece.

Org.nr. 921832559
Account number 1506.27.12330
International account number
NO77 1506 2712 330
BIC (Swift-address) DNBANOKKXXX
Vipps nr 584206
PayPal account
https://www.paypal.me/iriscenterchios

or use the button:

Happy Easter 🐇🐥🐣🥰

Please share:
Posted on

Dear all Iris Center supporters

Dear all supporters of Iris center team 🙏🌷

Yesterday the team distributed men’s clothes to about 120 men in Vial. We prioritized the new arrivals from the last weeks. Because the Iris center team are so honored to have residents from Vial in the team, we’re able to locate the new arrivals the day after they’re arrived and have been registered and give them what they need.

We gave out:
– trousers
– shorts
– t-shirts
– shirts
– belts
– traditional dresses
– shoes

Thank you so much to our friends from Germany, “The Refugees Foundation” and UK, “The Ripple Effect, Lancaster”. Without donations from you, we would not be able to help our sisters and brothers on the run. Thank you so much 🙏

As usual under a distribution, we chat with people in the line. The team found out that the new arrivals needed toiletries and strollers. Thus, we decided there and then, to hurry back to the container area and pick up strollers and distribute them. We also decided to give out toiletries to the new arrivals today.

We ended our day eating dinner at the cozy taverna Pinaleon in Karfas. The dinner was a donation from Sølvi Sinkaberg and her organisation, HÅP!
Sølvi and her organisation have supported the team for more than a year and is Iris center teams spinal cord 🙏🌷🙌💕

Please feel free to donate to our work for refugees on Chios:

Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/Iriscenterchios
Or
Vipps: +47-90558699

Thank you so much in advance 🙏

Janne Hegna
Iris Center, Chios

Please share:
Posted on

Iris Center filling gaps in the refugee work

The Iris centers policy is to help those who needs it and fill gap concerning the refugees crisis on the island of Chios and also others in need.

Wednesday 24th April the team prepared and distributed clothes for women and men at two locations outside the camp. It’s about 30 families that for some reason is moved from Vial to an apartment or actually in many cases only a small room. The reason can be new born baby or babies, some kind of illness, disabilities of different kinds, war wounds etc.

Because it’s not so many people they’ve more time to choose items and we’ve more time to talk with people which is very nice.

Many of the families in the apartments feel forgotten… In Vial they’ve their community, friends and volunteers helping them with clothes and toiletries.

The Iris center team will follow up the apartments closely with aid and also help with other things if it’s needed as the twins mother.

While distributing to the apartments we found out that a mother didn’t had any food… We went to the supermarket and bought what she needed.

Yesterday 25th April we distributed women’s clothes to the new arrivals in Vial and also some more summer items to the women that needed.
Amir made a list over the new arrivals that needed strollers and baby clothes. We went back to the container area and prepared and picked up what was needed and went back back to Vial to distribute it.

The strollers to the new arrivals in Vial and the food to the twins mother are donated by Kristin Omnes and Thora Lise Roppestad. The clothes are donated by the German team Refugee foundation and The ripple effect, Lancaster.

To be able to help our sisters and brothers on the run – we’re completely dependent on the amazing Iris team supporters. The team needs donations but we also appreciate so much all the good words from you. It gives so much energy and makes us go on every day.

THANK YOU SO MUCH ☺️🙏🌷

Please share:
Posted on

Urgent need of donations and volunteers

💙 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.

Please share: