Religious Groups Unite in New York to Assemble 7,500 Hygiene Kits for Syrian Refugees
By Josh Keefe • 06/27/16 6:58pm
Volunteers at the 69th Regiment Armory. Photo: Brian McDonell / Heart to Heart International
Volunteers at the 69th Regiment Armory. Photo: Brian McDonell / Heart to Heart International
Just a few blocks from where New York’s Pride parade marched up Fifth Avenue on Sunday, nearly a thousand volunteers gathered at the 69th Regiment Armory to show solidarity with another group: Syrian refugees.
The volunteers, representing a diverse cross-section of the city’s religious communities, formed temporary assembly lines within the cavernous armory. Working in three shifts, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists assembled and packed 7,500 hygiene kits bound for refugee camps in Turkey. Nearly five million registered refugees have been displaced by the ongoing Syrian Civil War according to the U.N., and 2.7 million of them are registered in Turkey. While aid organizations, governments and other NGOs are doing their best to provide food and shelter to refugees, hygiene products are often an overlooked necessity, according to event organizers.
That’s why volunteers were standing shoulder to shoulder passing large clear zip bags to each other on Sunday—each individual adding an item from one of the blue bins in front of them, items that included towels, underwear, toothpaste, soap, condoms and nail clippers, all donated by New York company Henry Schein. A third of the kits were specifically for women and girls and contained reusable and washable menstrual pads, as well as whistles and hand powered flashlights for safety in the often chaotic and violent refugee camps.
Jim Mitchum, CEO of Heart to Heart International, explained that a lack of basic hygiene products among refugees can lead to dermatological problems, infections and disease. “How fundamental is hygiene? Getting clean? Feeling clean? Being clean? Brushing your teeth?” Mitchum said. “Hygiene is actually one of the most essential elements of health.”
http://observer.com/2016/06/religious-groups-unite-in-new-york-to-assemble-7500-hygiene-kits-for-syrian-refugees/