Utah charity needs donations to help Iraqi people


5 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah-based charity Operation Give is raising money to help refugees in Iraq chased from their homes by the terrorist organization known as ISIS.

The charity plans to send critical aid by the end of July, but help from the community is needed to meet that goal.

Operation Give was founded in 2003 by former Army Warrant Officer and interrogator Paul Holton, then a member of the Utah National Guard. The charity helped Iraqi families devastated by the Iraq War.

"(The Iraqis) were doing good for quite a while, until ISIS came in,” said Elaine Ward, who manages Operation Give in Utah. Holton now lives in South Korea and takes care of logistics.

In recent years, 2 million Iraqi refugees have fled their homes for refugee camps in northern Iraq.

"They don't know if they'll ever get back. They need hope to be able to continue and to fight for their way of life," she said.

Operation Give is now working to help the refugees rebuild once again. At the charity's Utah warehouse space, donated by Mesa Moving and Storage, Ward has overseen the collection of critical items — hygiene kits, baby clothes, blankets — as well as toys and sports equipment for the children.

"They want more than anything a soccer ball,” Ward said.

With ISIS expanding its reach, the need grows daily. Operation Give currently has enough relief items stored to fill two shipping containers, but the charity needs $20,000 to send those goods to the families in northern Iraq.

For information on how you can help visit operationgive.org.

Photos

Related links

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahUplifting
Jed Boal

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast