Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor invites community to "help fill a shipping container" for Syrian refugees

Marblehead - From February 1 through February 28, the Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor in coordination with SPUR invites Marblehead and the local communities to help fill a shipping container with needed supplies to help refugees in Syria.

The club is working with NuDay Syria, a 501(c) aid organization that grew out of local New England efforts to help alleviate the suffering and displacement in Syria. Each month, NuDay Syria sends supplies through an established transportation network to refugee camps in Turkey and Syria. The organization is especially concerned with the plight and vulnerability of displaced Syrian women and girls, who are often overlooked and who often have few skills and little experience providing for their families.

Items needed now are like-new clothing for adult women and men, children and infants; hats, gloves, mittens, shoes, bags and purses; bedding, soccer balls, stuffed animals, crayons and pencils, and non-battery toys. Diapers, female hygiene supplies, soap bars, powdered detergent, toothbrushes, over-the-counter medication and vitamins are also needed as well as wheelchairs and walkers.

Wheelchairs and walkers can be dropped off at The First Church in Swampscott Congregational, 40 Monument Ave., between 10 a.m. and noon weekdays.

All other donated items can be dropped off into designated collection boxes during regular business hours throughout February.

In Marblehead, donation boxes will be located at the Lynch / van Otterloo YMCA, 40 Leggs Hill Road and at 5 Trager Road on the front porch.

In Swampscott, donation boxes are located at Atlantic Hearing Care, Inc., Suite 1G, 990 Paradise Road and at Eastern Bank, 405 Paradise Road (Vinnin Square).

Other locations include Right at Home Senior Care, 3rd Floor at 19 Front St. in Salem; Right at Home Senior Care, 350 Main St. in Haverhill at the back entrance, and Right at Home Senior Care,120 Middlesex Ave., Somerville.

The Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor and SPUR websites will be updated regularly with new donation drop-off locations.

Working with the Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor to meet the February goal are the ElderAct Club of Marblehead and Swampscott, Marblehead Community Charter Public School [MCCPS], Rotary District 7930, SPUR, local houses of worship and local Syrian families.

“This is a special, well-organized opportunity for our entire community to be part of a significant, international action of caring,” said Rosaleen Doherty, Service Chairperson of The Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor.

“We welcome the community’s support and compassion to make this project successful and meaningful,” said Heidi Whear, Co-Chairperson for the collection. “There is such great need in Syria and we can do so much to address it by working together.”

Volunteers are needed and welcome for specific tasks. Sign-ups will be posted on SPUR’s website at www.spur.community.

For questions about donations, please contact Rosaleen Doherty at Right at Home Senior Care at 978-234-0672 or Right at Home Senior Care at 978-744-5151.

For more information about NuDay Syria, visit nudaysyria.net or the organization’s Facebook page. NuDay’s board represents mothers with young children, a survivor of a refugee childhood, medical and humanitarian experts as well as business and engineering representatives.

For updates and more information about the NuDay Syria February Collection and about The Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor, visit www.rcomh.org or the club’s Facebook page.