Incredible sum raised for refugee after photo goes viral
A photo of a refugee, who was trying to sell pens on the street in Beirut, has gone viral. The image of the single father carrying his daughter received such a response that an Icelandic campaigner launched a crowdfunding campaign - which produced astonishing results.
The image was shared on Twitter by Gissur Simonarson, who describes himself as an activist. He was overwhelmed with offers from people who wanted to help, so he set out to find him.
He launched a Twitter account under the name #BuyPens, and within a day he had tracked down Abdul and his four-year-old daughter Reem. He is a single father to two children, as he also has a nine-year old son called Abdelillah. He said "Abdul is a Palestinian Syrian from the Yarmouk refugee camp, probably one of the worst places to live in Syria right now."
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Crowdfunding
Once he had found them, he set up an Indiegogo crowdfunding project to help them. He set an initial target of $5,000 and was stunned when the target was reached in the first 30 minutes. Over the next 18 hours, more than 1,500 generous supporters from around the world pledged more than $45,000, and the fund is still growing.
Many of the people who donated funds expressed how they wished they could help more people living in terrible conditions like this. Others said they hoped this story would raise awareness of the conditions refugees are living in.
The fundraiser runs for another two-weeks, and Simonarson hopes to raise enough money to enable this family to start a new life. The Independent reported that Simonarson had been in touch with a Unicef special protection unit, to ensure Abdul isn't taken advantage of. He also plans to turn the cash into monthly payments, to give Adbul a secure income.
More crowdfunding success
It's yet another example of the extraordinary results possible from Crowdfunding. We reported back in April on the entrepreneur who had hoped to raise $50,000 to produce shoes for children in poverty, which can be adjusted to increase several sizes, and therefore protect the children for years. He was overwhelmed with donations, and raised over $100,000.
Then there was the crowdfunding campaign set up to raise money for Jack Walker, an 83-year-old former Coldstream Guard. He had saved up £4,000 to pay for his funeral, but it was stolen from his house, so a fellow Guardsman set up a fundraising page, and restored both his savings and his faith in humanity, raising over £6,000.
And there was the student in Dundee who set up a crowdfunding page to raise £3,500 for a homeless man she met in the city. He was putting off having surgery, because he didn't have anywhere to recover, so she raised money to pay for a roof over his head. The page received £7,600, and she found him somewhere safe to stay.
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