All around the middle east there is plenty of refugees who have fled from their home countries to other bordering countries in the middle east. These refugees either have little shelter or none at all.

Some of these refugees live in camps, however these camps are in a bad condition themselves. As winter is coming up, these refugees will need more than food. Muslim Student Association (MSA), a club at Smoky Hill is helping raise things that will help during the winter.

“We’re raising things because the Syrian situation is seriously critical,” senior Ismaat Klaibou, president of MSA, said. “There are million of refugees stranded in the countries directly surrounding Syria, apart from the ones we hear about going to Europe.”

There will be a table during both lunches on Tuesday, the 22nd, with MSA members taking donations. At the table, there will be boxes and a list of things that are able to be donated. Also, around the school, there are posters giving information on this movement.

“It’s our job, the ones who know [about the situation] to raise awareness and do what we can, so we were discussing how we could help, and this is what we came up with,” Klaibou said.

The list contains food, blankets clothes and toiletries, and will be held through the rest of October. After all donations have been put together it will be shipped to the middle east, and depending on the club’s condition, they might end up giving it out to mosques in Colorado.

“There are more than one Syrians in MSA, and many of the others  are from surrounding countries like Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, and Iraq. We hear the stories from our own families, we see videos from the ground, we know what war is like and the casualties that are often forgotten,” Klaibou said.

There will not be a table everyday, but there are boxes around in resource centers, the library and the counseling office. Students can donate during their lunch and are asked to give whatever they can.  

“We as a community and country are beyond blessed, so the least we can do is give them what we aren’t even using,” Klaibou said.