BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash. — As the United States debates whether to welcome Syrian refugees into this country, some folks are going to Europe to help the refugees there.
A Bainbridge Island mother and son just came back from Greece on the front lines of the refugee crisis.
“I just couldn’t not go,” Ellin Spenser said. “I had to do something.”
Spenser shared pictures of her trip. They are images that continue to haunt her and her son, Tim.
“The beaches are strewn with life preservers and washed up boats, the people coming ashore are so desperate,” Spenser added.
Spenser, a Realtor on Bainbridge Island, was compelled to volunteer when she saw the crisis unfolding on the news.
“I felt a connection because my grandparents had emigrated from Lesvos,” she explained. “I’d look at these pictures on television and I’d say ‘I know that place’”
She asked Tim to go, who didn't hesitate.
They worked as part of an 11-member team, helping countless refugees off these boats who'd finally made it to dry land after crossing the water from Turkey.
There is one particular moment, etched in Tim's memory.
“I think about one young man in particular we helped ashore,’ Tim Spenser emotionally recounted. “Who exemplified joy and relief at having made this crossing safely.”
Although the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino have caused anti-Muslim rhetoric and backlash against Syrian refugees, for them serving in Greece has only reinforced the need to help.
”When they get off the boat and kiss your hand and hold your hand to forehead repeatedly with tears in their eyes, you know whatever they’ve been through was so awful that standing there with soaking wet feet in an unknown place was still better,” Spenser said.
They volunteered with Salaam Cultural Museum, which is based in Seattle.
Director Rita Zawaideh said she's received a 20 percent increase in material donations for the Syrian refugees, but she says they're always in need of more donations, especially monetary donations.
SCM also needs more volunteers. Zawaideh is worried they may be shorthanded during the holidays since a lot of volunteers are leaving and won't be back until after the first of the year.
KIRO
