Here Are Ways to Help Afghans in North Texas and Around the World

As concerning developments continue to unfold in Afghanistan, scenes of violence and desperation are inspring calls for generosity.

For those who are eager to step in to assist refugees arriving to settle in North Texas and across the United States, here are some ways to help.

SUPPORTING LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS AND NONPROFITS

Visit the Catholic Charities Dallas website for more information on how to donate. Prospective donors may also contact the organization directly to specify that a donation is for refugee families or note that on the donation form.

Donate to the International Rescue Committee, or IRC, which has a Dallas fund. The organization helps secure housing, purchase household items and food, transportation, medical needs, and meet the other basic needs of new Afghan neighbors and other new arrivals.

Ma’ruf Dallas continues its donation drop-off at its office at 9319 Lyndon B Johnson Fwy., Suite 110, Dallas, 75243. The organization said it is also in need of volunteers as well as online donations to a special fund created for Afghan refugees.

Refugee Services of Texas is responsible for resettling 324 refugees in Texas. Donations can be made online.

WAYS TO HELP AFGHANS IN AFGHANISTAN AND ELSEWHERE

The Child Foundation, which provides basic necessities to children living in poverty and access to education, created an Afghanistan Crisis Fund for Emergency Assistance in the Balkh province, where about 800 children supported by the foundation live. Schools had closed and fear was high in the ethnic minority communities, according to its website. It had raised $15,000 and sent the money to feed 300 families.

Global Giving's Afghanistan Emergency Fund is working with partners on the ground to get emergency support to people in Afghanistan via vetted nonprofits working in the region, it says. Women, children, activists and journalists are particularly at risk, it says.

Islamic Relief USA is raising money to help families struggling with displacement and hunger. More than 3.5 million people have been uprooted as Afghanistan is on the brink of famine, it says on its website. 

The International Rescue Committee says it has been working in Afghanistan for three decades providing shelter, education, clean water and other aid. 

UN Crisis Relief has a fund for what it has called a “deepening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan” Since the beginning of July, thousands of Afghans have been displaced, injured or killed, it says. 

UNHCR, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, says that registered refugees from Afghanistan are the "largest protracted refugee population in Asia, and the second-largest refugee population in the world."

Women for Women International says it has reached more than 127,000 women in five provinces since 2002. Afghanistan is one of the most difficult countries for women because political and economic insecurity, educational inequality, sexual violence and poor health are all-pervasive, it says.

WAYS TO HELP REFUGEES ARRIVING IN US

Church World Service says on its website that as the Taliban regains control, some families are in danger. Since 2009, Church World Service has resettled more than 7,000 Afghans and their families in the United States. There are 18,000 Afghans in need of resettlement to the United States and the service’s help in finding housing, employment and other social services. 

Homes Not Borders provides refugees, those with Special Immigrant Visas and asylum seekers in the Washington, D.C., area with what they need to be at home in the U.S., including household needs and help finding jobs. It is seeking donations of money or items and volunteers.

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service is asking for assistance for the United States' Afghan allies, among them interpreters, cultural advisers and drivers who are now at risk of retaliatory attacks. Volunteers are needed to help refugees with airport pickups, apartment set-ups or meal assistance. Sign-ups are available for regions where refugees are arriving — Seattle/Tacoma, Houston, Fort Worth and the Washington, D.C., area — or for the general stand-by list. Donations are also accepted.