ADdress

PO Box 520511 Flushing, NY 11352-0511

Last January, our Executive Director Yi-Miao Huang traveled to Kilis, a town on the border of Turkey and Syria, for the purpose of donating winter jackets to Syrian child refugees.

This February, we returned to Kilis and donated more jackets to help the children through the cold winter. Director Huang shared the photos of some of these children on Facebook and shared their stories of their trials and tribulations. She was especially touched to see that last year’s donations were put to good use.

According to Killis Mayor Hasan Kara, the situation of the town located on the Turkey Syrian border continues to be grim. The total number of refugees on the town currently exceeds the non-refugee population of the town. The Kilis City government is not only providing shelters, food, clothing and medicine to the refugees, but has also created programs to teach refugees how to find jobs and learn about small businesses. Kilis is noted as one of the most welcoming places in the world for refugees and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize last year.

On February 9, STUF donated 10,000 jackets through the Turkey Red Crescent and Turkey Fashion & Apparel Federation. We are pleased to see the women and children in the refugee community are able to learn cooking and computer skills through a variety of offered classes, which is useful for their own future pursuits, as well as their overall quality of life.