We are blessed to have a diverse SPB community. I love that from the beginning of their lives, our Sweet Pea babies are connected to their classmates’ humanity, not their “religion”. As such, I am happy to share this letter to show our support of the millions of refugees seeking asylum. May they all find their havens of rest so that their children may know the same joys that ours do.

Without further ado, here is a letter sent to me by an SPB alumni on behalf of her friend who is volunteering with Carry the Future…

To Whom It May Concern:
As you know, right now there are thousands of families and children fleeing terrorism and the war in Syria and the Middle East. Currently 9,000 Syrian refugees are arriving to Greece DAILY, and 30% of them are with CHILDREN.

I am a volunteer for the charity, Carry the Future (http://www.carrythefuture.org/). Carry the Future collects new and used baby carriers* and provides them to mothers and fathers who are fleeing the war (typically on foot) and are carrying their babies with them for miles and weeks, often without a known final destination or refuge. Carry the Future was born after the horrific pictures of Aylan Kurdi on the Greek isles made a group of moms decide to make the world safer for mothers and their children in search of safety.

Carry the Future volunteers have set up many community collection points throughout the country and abroad. They are the same people that collect carriers and carry them to the Greek coast and surroundings to provide these people some relief. However, we are in need of more baby carriers and are hosting a collection drive in the Phoenix, Arizona metro-area until December 31, 2015.

I need your assistance spreading the word to more people about our collection points in the area. We currently have set up the following collection points with the cooperation of our extraordinary local businesses:

1) American Sports Complex Avondale
2) Goldilocks Indoor Playground and Dance Studio Litchfield Park
3) Arizona Breastfeeding Center Tempe
4) Gymboree Play & Music Glendale
5) Gymboree Play & Music Scottsdale

We could use the donations of gently used and new carriers, as well as more sites throughout the Valley since we have a goal of sending 100 soft baby carriers from Phoenix with the next deployment to Greece. If any of your viewers prefer to send money to Carry the Future, they can visit the website below and do that directly as Phoenix volunteers are not taking any monetary donations for the organization at this time.

For further information, please see (flyer) attached or got to our website: http://www.carrythefuture.org/

This is an extremely important humanitarian issue and I’m sure during this special season, your readers will see that as well. Thank you.
Uzma Jafri

*soft structured baby and child carriers only. No car seats, no metal frames, no strollers, no wraps, no slings. Soft Structured Carriers (SSCs) are basically any carrier that has clasps or harnesses, and Mei Teis (square cloth with four ties). A few examples are Baby Bjorn, Kolcraft, MobyGo and Ergo.