UF students Hali McKinley Lester and Sandra Vizer saw headlines about the refugee crises in Syria and Iraq, and they knew they wanted to help.
After months of planning, the two officially started a UF chapter of the No Lost Generation student organization in December, with a goal of helping young refugees in Gainesville and Jacksonville, Florida.
“We kind of live in a bubble, so it’s easy to forget that there are horrible things happening abroad,” said Vizer, a UF business administration junior.
The national organization, which has chapters at more than 50 universities, helps young refugees by fundraising, advocating for local victims of the crises and coordinating tutoring and mentoring programs, said McKinley Lester, a UF international studies and history junior.
“No Lost Generation comes from the idea that people have kind of dismissed the children of Syria,” said McKinley Lester, 20, who is the organization’s co-president along with Vizer.
The students haven’t raised any money or supplies yet but plan to in the future, Vizer said.
In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order indefinitely halting the acceptance of Syrian refugees and temporarily halting the U.S. refugee program for 120 days.
Vizer, 20, said she met McKinley Lester through an online internship program in Summer, when the two decided to band together to form the club.
The organization has had three meetings, and about 15 people have joined so far, Vizer said.
Vizer and McKinley Lester said they want to focus on encouraging students to join mentorship and tutoring programs to help refugees. They plan to work with the organization Paper Airplanes, which focuses on academic tutoring and English language classes, and Jusoor, a national mentorship, professional development and entrepreneurship program.
Rana Al-Nahhas, a 21-year-old UF psychology senior, also founded a student organization in Spring 2015 to help Syrian refugees.
Students Organize for Syria at UF works to teach others about the crisis in Syria and advocate for refugee education.
Al-Nahhas, whose parents are from Syria, said she hopes the two organizations will collaborate.
She said members of No Lost Generation should focus on the refugees, instead of making a political statement.
“I do believe that politics creates this tension with certain issues and certain circumstances,” Al-Nahhas said. “All that matters is that they are human. They need help.”
