Humans of New York raises $700,000 for Syrian refugees in three days

A Christmas fundraiser from Humans of New York founder has raised seven times the target amount

Sunday 27 December 2015 19:10 GMT

Brandon Stanton, the founder of Humans of New York, has raised $700,000 for refugees in three days

The man behind a photo project that features portraits of ordinary people on the streets of New York has raised $700,000 for refugees in three days.

Brandon Stanton, the founder of Humans of New York, started the online fundraiser after 11 Syrian refugees and their families were intrviewed for the blog.

The refugees outlined their struggles in Syria and the difficulty they faced in relocating to a new country.

One woman said “Because I’m a refugee, my life is on pause. My studies have stopped. I’m not working. I don’t have a career. Because I’m Syrian, I’m not allowed to participate in society.

"It’s been years of doing nothing. I used to be a cheerful person. I was always invited to parties. Now I like to be alone.”

Stanton started the fundraiser in order to raise money for the families that he had interviewed, enough to help them get settled into their new life.

He set up the fundraiser page and encouraged fans of the blog to donate, setting a target of $100,000 dollars, enough for each family to receive just over $9000 each.

Refugee crisis - in pictures

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Refugee crisis - in pictures

A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016.

AFP/Getty Images

Refugee crisis - in pictures

Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea

Refugee crisis - in pictures

Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016.

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Refugee crisis - in pictures

Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border

Refugee crisis - in pictures

Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia.

Refugee crisis - in pictures

A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece.

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Refugee crisis - in pictures

A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany

Refugee crisis - in pictures

Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees

Refugee crisis - in pictures

A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district

Refugee crisis - in pictures

Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast.

Refugee crisis - in pictures

A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos

Refugee crisis - in pictures

A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said

Refugee crisis - in pictures

Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year

Refugee crisis - in pictures

The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos

Refugee crisis - in pictures

Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija

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Refugee crisis - in pictures

A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija

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Refugee crisis - in pictures

Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos

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Refugee crisis - in pictures

An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey

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Refugee crisis - in pictures

A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos

EPA

Refugee crisis - in pictures

A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey

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Refugee crisis - in pictures

Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija

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Refugee crisis - in pictures

People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija

AP

Refugee crisis - in pictures

Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day

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Refugee crisis - in pictures

An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France

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Refugee crisis - in pictures

A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea

EPA

Refugee crisis - in pictures

Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey

Getty Images

Refugee crisis - in pictures

Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily.

Stanton wrote on the Generosity page: “They will be starting at zero in a new country. In addition to the culture shock, they will face innumerable obstacles, including the need to learn an entirely new language.

“They have escaped a horrible war, and have finally secured a degree of safety and security, but the road will be very tough for them.

“As they attempt to get their footing, they will be provided with little more than the bare minimum needed to subsist.”

Thanks to blog readers’ generosity, there is now enough to give each refugee family over $65,000 to aid their resettlement.

The money raised will be shared out among the 11 families profiled on the site, and if any of the families refuse the money, their share will be given to a resettlement charity.

Merry Christmas! Yesterday we raised nearly $500,000 in financial assistance for the refugee families we met during the...
Posted by Humans of New York on Friday, December 25, 2015

The fundraising page can be found here.

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