Canadian Children's Authors and Illustrators Support Refugees

UPDATE #5: MAJOR NEWS TODAY!!!! MSF Canada got in touch to let us know that they've just had a private major donor agree to do a matching gift for all third party fundraisers raising funds for Syria at MSF Canada. Therefore, the $20,000 that has already been raised will be doubled! The fundraiser is open until October 10-- so we've got another 11 days and all donations are now worth TWICE AS MUCH!!!  

UPDATE #4: AND WE HIT OUR GOAL! In less than two weeks, we've reached our goal of raising $20000 for MSF/Doctors Without Borders! Canadian children's authors, illustrators, publishers, book industry folks and other supporters-- you are the best. So happy to be a part of such a generous and compassionate community. We are going to leave the webpage up and open for donations until Thanksgiving-- and the more money we can raise, the better. So please continue sharing the link and letting people know about this fundraiser. And THANKS SO MUCH for all the support. 

UPDATE #3: More than $18500 raised!!! A HUGE thanks to all of the wonderful children's authors, illustrators, publishers, book industry folks and other supporters who have donated over the last six days. It's been amazing to see this community come together to support MSF/Doctors Without Borders in their work to help refugees. Less than $1500 to go to reach our goal of $20000... Please keep donating and sharing this link to help us get there! 

UPDATE #2: YOU DID IT!!! Canadian children's authors and illustrators just raised over $10,000 in less than 72 hours! A huge thanks to Kenneth Oppel for matching the first $5000 of donations and getting us to our goal so fast! So we're going to double our original goal-- and try to raise $20,000 by Thanksgiving. Although we're focussing our outreach on the Canadian children's literature community, anyone is of course welcome to donate- all contributions are needed and appreciated, and no amount is too small- it all adds up and it makes a real difference! Thanks for sharing this link and encouraging others to donate. 

UPDATE #1: Great news! When we reach $5000, author Kenneth Oppel will donate a matching $5000! Thanks so much to everyone who has donated so far...let's keep it going!

So many children worldwide-- in Syria and in countless other areas of conflict-- may never have the opportunities that most children living in Canada have-- safety,  food, a place to live, and a country to call home. 

Inspired by YA author Patrick Ness, who has started an enormously successful UK fundraising campaign for Syrian refugees, we've decided to do something similar in Canada. We are calling on Canadian children's book authors, illustrators and publishers to contribute what they can to Doctors Without Borders. 

Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF) is the world's leading independent international medical relief organization, implementing and managing medical projects in close to 70 countries worldwide. Doctors Without Borders operates medical facilities in Syria and supports more than 100 clinics, health posts and field hospitals in the country. 

Thanks for reading and donating! -Robin Stevenson and Sarah Harvey