WORLD HELP ON THE GROUND IN IRAQ, READY TO ASSIST REFUGEES FLEEING MOSUL

World Help president and founder Vernon Brewer visits refugee camps around Mosul, delivers humanitarian aid to Iraqi refugees

FOREST, VA. — As Iraqi and Kurdish forces advance toward Mosul to recapture the city from ISIS control, launching an offensive which could displace more than a million people, World Help president and founder Vernon Brewer is on the ground in Iraq, visiting refugee camps and delivering humanitarian aid to those fleeing the battle.

“Even if just half of the people expected are displaced, this is going to be a major crisis,” said Brewer. “Over the next two months, there could be as many as one million displaced people coming out of Mosul. We have already been meeting families that are fleeing the city with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Their stories are heartbreaking, and the reality is that we will be hearing thousands of similar stories in the coming days.”

Brewer and the World Help team are visiting camps and villages in the area surrounding Mosul where over 500,000 residents have already fled. World Help is delivering essentials like blankets, food and diapers. Two mobile medical clinics provided by World Help are also providing first aid and physical examinations to people in the camps.

“We’re hands-on providing relief and aid right now, but at the same time we are making arrangements for when the refugees start coming in big numbers. The need is exponential compared to the resources at hand. These families desperately need our help if they’re going to make it through the winter,” Brewer said

Brewer projects World Help will need to raise close to $2 million just to keep the refugees World Help  is assisting alive through winter.

“The truth is that we are running out of resources quickly. We can and must do more. The scale of the need is beyond what any single organization on the ground can meet. We need every friend of World Help to give what they can and to do it now,” Brewer added.

“We are here, we’re on the ground, and we have shown up to save lives,” he concluded. “This is a crisis, but it’s also our opportunity to help.”

World Help is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Since its foundation in 1991, World Help has provided humanitarian aid to more than 70 million people across 76 countries, and continues to work amongst the most vulnerable and to respond to humanitarian crises and natural disasters.

Video updates with Brewer from the field in Iraq are available here and here.

–30–

World Help is a Christian humanitarian organization committed to serving the physical and spiritual needs of people in impoverished communities around the world. It was founded in 1991 by Vernon Brewer.

Website | worldhelp.net   Twitter | @world_help  Facebook | World Help