Roots (@charitableroots) is a grassroots NGO that provides basic necessities to displaced people temporarily encamped in Dunkirk, Northern France.

Dunkirk is a current hotspot for refugees waiting for the opportunity to cross the English channel and apply for asylum in the UK. Here, refugees, including families with young children and unaccompanied minors, live for weeks to months at a time in donated tents and sleeping bags, enduring harsh weather and poor living conditions, and facing constant evictions and violent altercations with border police as they wait to continue their journey.

In camp, Roots works daily to uphold the dignity of these displaced people by providing basic necessities such as access to clean water, showers, charging, and WiFi. The only clean water points in camp are operated and sanitized by Roots. These services are essential to mitigating the spread of sickness and allowing refugees to connect with their loved ones and access life-saving resources. Roots' in-camp hub fosters community and cultural/social exchange that boosts morale.

Operating on a shoestring budget, Roots relies entirely on volunteers and donations. Your contribution goes directly to the costs of hygiene products, gas, and equipment repair that allow Roots to provide these essential services.

$5 can buy 60 toothbrushes (1.5 days worth)

$45 can buy a gas bottle that will provide electricity for roughly 2 days of charging

$135 can fund gas for a week's worth of hot showers when weather permits (~200 showers!)

The onset of winter means three things for camp:

1. As the weather deteriorates, already poor living conditions get worse, making daily life for those in the living sites colder and wetter and creating a hub for illness to spread.

2. Harsher weather conditions prevent refugees from taking the next step of their journey, meaning the refugees who are here for the winter will endure these conditions for longer.

3. Violent winds damage Roots equipment, which provides increasingly needed (and some of the only) shelter and heat available for refugees on cold days, and increase repair costs. These winds at times even prevent Roots from operating safely.

The situation in Dunkirk is critical. With the onset of winter it is now even more important that Roots can offer hygiene support, charging, shelter, and access to clean water as risk for illness increases and temperatures drop. Any donation will keep Roots on the ground this winter. As little as $5 makes a difference!

Thank you,

Maile