The Go Farther Project: Running for Refugees

I tried to explain to my five-year-old son what's happening right now in Syria.

"What if you couldn't sleep at night because we didn't have a home? What if you couldn't go outside because there were bullets and explosions everywhere? What if something happened to mommy, or you, or me and we were separated and couldn't find each other?"

This is real. But go to most news outlets and you'll read or hear almost nothing about the crisis. 

Like many of you, the photo of Aylan Kurdi, the 3-year old boy who drowned in 2015 affected me deeply.

That photo is when I woke up to the problem we're facing and prompted my family to donate to Mercy Corps.

Every time I look at that picture and think about Aylan, his family and the millions of people that have died or been displaced, it upsets and distresses me.

When that photo first published, my now five-year-old son was also three, just like Aylan. The only thought I could have after seeing that photo for the first time was to imagine my own son laying there, alone and dead on a beach.

A year ago, Abdullah Kurdi, the boy's dad said:

"Everyone claimed they wanted to do something because of the photo that touched them so much. But what is happening now? People are still dying and nobody is doing anything about it." (Source: The Telegraph, "'Photo of my dead son has changed nothing', says father of drowned Syrian refugee boy Alan Kurdi," Sept 3, 2016)

Here we are a year later and yesterday The Guardian reported that at least 8,500 people have died or disappeared while attempting to cross the Mediterranean since the death of Alan Kurdi. (Source: The Guardian, "8,500 people lost in Mediterranean since death of three-year-old Alan Kurdi," Sept 1, 2017)

Do a web search for "Syrian refugees" and see what you find. It's all atrocious and horrifying. 

This has to stop, and that's why I'm doing what I can to take action.

On September 8th, I'll be embarking on a personal adventure – something I choose to do, something I want to do, something I pay to do. 

I'll begin The Tahoe 200 – a 200-mile foot race circumnavigating Lake Tahoe with 80,000' of elevation change over four days. I'll enjoy the luxury of aid stations stocked with water, food, medical help and and sleeping quarters. I'll have a crew to help me with trivial problems like blisters and lack of sleep. Long slow climbs up to 9000' peaks will reward me with postcard vistas of late summer in the alpines.

Even with this support and these rewards, there will be times when I won't want to go on or feel like I can't go on. I have that choice. 

But millions of people in Syria right now do not have a choice. They have to keep moving. They have to keep running. They have to keep searching for shelter and safety.

Imagine fleeing your home with only the clothes on your back, fearing for your life as you journey to the border, and arrive in a foreign country. You have no idea where you will live or what you will eat.

That's the reality for millions of Syrians, half of them under 18, who are fleeing the violent civil war in their country.

The scale of Syria’s humanitarian crisis is astonishing — 11 million people, half of the country’s pre-war population, have been forced from their homes and 250,000 have died since the war began in 2011. They need our help to get through the worst humanitarian crisis of our time.

Every dollar we contribute makes a powerful difference in the lives of these courageous children and families. Now, and for the future. Please join me by making a gift today — Syrians are counting on our support.

Mercy Corps has been on the ground working since August 2012 and has one of the largest humanitarian operations inside Syria. Their staff put their lives in danger every day to deliver lifesaving food and relief to children and families trapped inside Syria, but supplies are quickly dwindling.

In surrounding countries, they are also distributing emergency food and supplies, improving access to clean water, providing activities and counseling to help children feel safe again, and helping refugees and host communities learn how to work together. And they'll be there until families can safely return home.

• $11 can provide a family of 6 with a month’s supply of bread
• $30 can help give 50 families access to clean water
• $75 helps provide two refugees with an emergency food kit containing bread, spices, oil, meat and vegetables
• $210 provides an emergency kit for a Syrian family that includes blankets, hygiene supplies, water and cooking tools

Together, we can help families survive this terrible crisis.

Thank you!