The White House wants you to donate to the Syrian refugees on Kickstarter

Flag outside EU headquarters in Belgium
(Image credit: Thierry Roge/AFP/Getty Images)

The United States has already committed $4.5 billion to the Syrian refugee crisis, but there's still a long way to go to help the 12 million people displaced by the war. That's where you come in, says the White House, which prompted the crowdfunding website Kickstarter to launch its first social service campaign.

While Kickstarter is mostly used by musicians, filmmakers, and inventors who want to raise the funds to create their work by offering "rewards" to investors, the Kickstarter page for the Syrian crisis redirects donors to support refugees by buying them "rest," "water," "rescue," "shelter," and "education" through the UN Refugee Agency. At the time of publication, Kickstarter reports that 3,000 refugees have been helped by the campaign, which has raised over $735,000. The next goal, $1,225,000, would support 5,000 people. Six days remain in the campaign and already over 12,000 people have contributed.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.