In 2016, Michael and I traveled to his island of Chios, Greece, where he was born, for his dad's funeral. It was a sad time for us, but we found solace in working at a refugee camp in Chios.  We purchased and distributed milk for  toddlers and preschoolers, who needed it most for brain development.  We hoped that all who were stranded on the island would soon find safe passage to new homes.  Unfortunately,  the Refugee Crisis continues and is worse as ever. Refugees from many countries, such as Syria, leave Turkey by boat, and those who make it (many drown) find themselves living in sub-human conditions on nearby Greek Islands ( as well as the mainland). Most are not allowed to travel any further.  Last summer, Mike, Kayley and I, as well as Kayley's host sister from Italy, went back to Chios to visit Mike's mom. We brought donations of one of the most valuable products, women's sanitary pads to fulfill a basic need.  We discovered that the products we had brought were all that they had (so we went to a local store and bought them out!)  We also volunteered in the warehouse, sorting donated clothing. It was such a small contribution, but it led me to want to do more; hence this campaign. In honor of my reaching the half-century milestone, I am asking you, my friends, to donate whatever you can as we will be traveling over again, bringing more aid and volunteering,  Thank you so much.

With love, Kelley 


Additional Information:
Funds are being raised by Kelley Miskis, a special education teacher in Salem, MA who lives with her family in Beverly, MA. Funds are being raised for the Chios Eastern Refugee Shore Response Team-CERST a non-profit group that supports refugees to the Greek island of Chios, Greece. This is an organization with whom Kelley and her family have supported and volunteered over the past three years. (See above)

Kelley is in regular contact with the team at CERST through phone, text, and email,  and they appreciate her efforts on their behalf.  100% of donations go directly to CERST.  All donations raised through this page will be collected by GoFundMe, withdrawn by Kelley and then deposited directly into CERST's Paypal account.  Donors can choose to donate directly through Paypal as well through the link below. The Chios Eastern Shore Response Team is run by volunteers only. That means all received donations go directly to people seeking refuge on Chios.

As you can imagine responding to boat landings, running a warehouse and managing different projects together with the residents of Vial (The refugee camp in Chios) requires all sorts of supplies. On the list below, it is explained which items they need to buy on a regular basis to keep their activities running. The list only contains those items, that we must buy additionally to the material donations that they receive from generous supporters from all over the world. Hopefully, this gives you a transparent overview where your donations will go.

Supplies for boat landings

Food pack: 1 croissant+ 1 bottle of water+ 1 juice: 0,85€ per person
Sweatpants for Women & Men: 4,50€ per person (We buy them new because we only have limited time to hand out new clothes during the landings. They must be comfortable and fit the people.)
Sweatpants for children: 4,20€ per person
Thermal shirts for Men: 7,00€ per person (The men usually are the ones that don’t get prioritized concerning accommodations in Vial. It’s likely that they must sleep outside. So, we want to provide them with something that keeps them warm.)
Clean underwear for Children, Women & Men: 1,00€ per person
Sanitary pads for Women: 1,00€ per pack
Baby wipes: 0,75 € per pack
Abayas for women: 7,00€ per person

The above costs are only for landing and do not include other needs in order to support the refugees in the camp on a daily basis.

For more information on the organization that we are supporting, go to the link below.
www.facebook.com/chiosesrt or to their website cerst.org

The Chios Eastern Shore Response Team is now officially registered under the umbrella of Offene Arme e.V. (Germany). Under the name of Offene Arme e.V., the Chios Eastern Shore Response Team will continue to carry out its work of distributing essential goods to refugees at landings and responding to their identified needs as a registered humanitarian association in Greece.

Learn more about the official legal situation of CESRT under Offene Arme e.V. !

Contributions can be made through this page, or
for a direct paypal link, see below.

www.paypal.me/cesrt