Refugee Fund

My name is Amanda Hathorn Geary and I'm from Canada but currently on the Island of Kalymnos. Late Thursday night/early Friday (Oct 29/30 2015)  two boats full of refugees sank off the coast of two Greek islands. One of the islands was Kalymnos - the island my son Dax, husband Alex and myself are on currently for a rock climbing trip. Over 138 people were rescued, however, 14 were confirmed dead (9 of which were children and infants). Many are still missing. We went climbing yesterday to an area called 'The Beach.' It is a half an hours drive away from the main town we are in and another half an hour hike into the beach side climbing area. Once we arrived we found debris everywhere. At first we thought it was just garbage - water bottles, some styrofoam and so on. We soon realized it wasn't just garbage when we started seeing large pieces of wood, oars, rubber rings, lifejackets . . . shoes. We also found a huge, totally destroyed, rubber raft that had been placed over some old rock walls to create a shelter and a fire ring that had recently been used nearby. This was the place that some of the recent refugees made it to, and also sadly, where some finally lay to rest as their lifeless bodies drifted to shore. I have been following the 'Refugee Crisis' in the media for quite sometime, and of course have been saddened by the events that have been unfolding, however, seeing all the debris left over from the recent sinking and also personal items - especially things like baby shoes and toddler lifejackets has really brought the crisis straight to my heart. The picture, as attached, is one I took of a single rubber ring floating in the water near the beach FULL of debris and personal items. I was going to take pictures closer up to what I saw, but honestly, I was just too upset. Hiking out with Daxy all I could keep thinking was, 'What would I do if I where in same situation the Syrians and Afghans are in?' Of course I would pay 1500-2000+ Euro to shady people smugglers based in Turkey in an attempt to get myself and my family to safety. FYI 1500-2000+ Euro is the going rate right now that the smugglers are charging refugees for the crossing from Turkey to Greece. They are placing refugees in totally unseaworthy and massively overcrowded boats with (often) FAKE lifejackets (filled with paper and not actual foam). If the refugees refuse to board, the so-called vessel, there have been reports that they are being threatened with being fired upon. Once half-way across to Greece the smugglers bail off the death trap refugee rafts and are picked up by high speed boats to get taken back to the safety of Turkey (to ensure they are not arrested by Greek Authorities.) As soon as I got back home that day from The Beach I donated all the clothing and toys we could afford to be without to a local charity serving the surviving refugees waiting to be processed in Kalymnos. Winter is setting in and many refugees only have the clothes that they came across in or in many cases, nothing at all. Babies in some camps are being wrapped in garbage bags to keep them warm and to protect them from the weather. The items that are most needed in camps currently are; clothing, hygiene products, and basic English books and training supplies, so that the refugees can start to learn English while awaiting a decision as to what European country (eventually) they will be sent to. If you have gotten this far in my post I'm sure you want to help too. Here is what I am doing to help on the ground - I am working with local cafe's and restaurants that tourist climbers frequent, to create donation clothing boxes for tourists to leave items that they wish to give directly to the refugees here on the island.  With the funds raised in the next two weeks on Go Fund Me I plan to purchase refugee camp requested items; diapers, wipes, soap, feminine products etc and donate them to a local group working directly with the refugees here on the island. After we depart and head back to Canada I will still be working to support the organization here on the island to send more clothing and support items to the local refugees. Greece is, as many of you know, struggling in a crushed economy. There are simply not the funds or aid available (from the EU or otherwise) coming in to help where help is needed. Anything you can donate would be so much appreciated. Thank you in advance for your donation.