A churchgoer in Brighton has collected enough clothes to help 35,000 Iraqi refugees after seeing distressing footage of what had happened to the people displaced by the Islamic State.
Samara Levy, a mother of two in Brighton, organised for 10 lorries to go from England to Iraqi Kurdistan to be distributed in Ankawa, the Christian suburb of the Kurdish capital Erbil. She has also organised for a container to reach Jordan to help Iraqi and Syrian refugees there. Over two million Syrians are refugees, while over 100,000 Christians alone have been displaced by the Islamic State in northern Iraq.
Mrs Levy worked on her campaign with the support of her church, St Peter’s Anglican church in Brighton, and the Foundation for Reconciliation and Relief in the Middle East, Canon Andrew White’s organisation. Much of the material is distributed through the Chaldean Catholic and Orthodox churches in Iraq.
She has since received help from more than 100 churches around the country, including Catholic parishes, such as the nearby St Joseph’s church in Brighton.
Mrs Levy said the charitable venture “has grown beyond everything I expected. The response is just overwhelming.”
She estimates that the material transported to Iraq can clothe up to 35,000 people, at two kilos per person, but she is planning to send more.
“What I’m saying to people is: it’s you that makes it happen. I can’t do it all, I can’t pay for you to bring this stuff, you need to bring it to me – this is a community project that I’m overseeing.”
She has asked for anyone wishing to help to get in contact with her for her next trip. Her website is here.
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