There’s a refugee crisis in Europe. Here’s how you can help

By Hadley Robinson

The images are impossible to ignore: people jostling onto overpacked trains, crowded refugee centers, drowned children. It’s easy to feel helpless in the face of so much human suffering from people risking everything for a better, but still uncertain, future in Europe. Though some governments have been slow to react to the crisis, many regular people have opened their wallets and their hearts to help.

These messages were posted to a Facebook group originally intended to persuade the Icelandic government to accept more refugees. But since then, more than 11,000 people in Iceland have volunteered to take refugees into their own homes.

Refugees Welcome is a German website that connects refugees with people who have the space to house them. But it only works in Germany and Austria.

The Canadian government has a unique program that allows displaced people to enter the country through private sponsorship. Here’s where you can apply to take in refugees if you’re Canadian.

But you don’t have to open up your home to help. Here are some other ways you can lend a hand:

This Facebook page in England was set up to collect donated clothes, blankets, food and other materials to give to refugee camps. But the storage facilities are currently at capacity, so the group is asking people to donate money instead. People can also volunteer to load vans, sort items or even help out in camps.

Here is a crowdfunding page for items a group of volunteers will bring to the Calais refugee camps in October.

Migrant Offshore Aid Station: This group aims to give assistance to refugees in unsafe boats at sea. A team of rescuers and paramedics locates and assists vessels in distress.

The more well-known, bigger aid organizations are seeking support too:

Save the Children has a “Syrian Children in Crisis Fund” and focuses on creating child-friendly spaces where kids can have a safe place to play and receive emotional support. You can donate here to support refugee kids.

The UN Refugee Agency provides humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees, including cash for medicine, food, stoves, fuel and heating. The organization says since January, due to donations, 1.8 million refugees received food aid and 500,000 children enrolled in schools.

Helping those still on the ground in Syria:

Doctors without Borders runs mobile clinics and health facilities in Syrian transit camps and camps for displaced people throughout the region. They do everything from providing drugs and medical supplies to performing surgeries and delivering babies.

Hand in Hand for Syria uses donations to provide clothing, blankets, food, clean water and healthcare to people in need in Syria.

The WFP is helping people affected by the Syrian crisis by delivering food and organizing logistics. The group uses an electronic delivery system to get food vouchers to refugees.

Know of other places looking for help or donations? Share with us in your response.