Google to raise $11 million for refugee crisis in Europe in donation-matching campaign

Jessica Guynn | USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO — With a very personal appeal, Google launched a donation-matching campaign that aims to raise $11 million for humanitarian organizations helping hundreds of thousands of refugees in Europe who have fled war-torn and impoverished countries.

Google said on Tuesday it will match the first $5.5 million in donations made at google.com/refugeerelief. Donations will be distributed to four nonprofit organizations providing aid such as food, water, shelter and medical care to refugees and migrants: Doctors Without Borders, International Rescue Committee, Save the Children and UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Europe is in the midst of its most serious refugee crisis in decades. The United Nations Refugee Agency estimates Europe has been flooded this year with more than 410,000 refugees and migrants fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan.

Google struck a personal note in making the announcement. The Google blog post was written by an employee, Rita Masoud, who fled Kabul for Europe when she was seven years old, her family's belongings stuffed into a single suitcase.

Her family was in search of a "safer and better future," Masoud wrote. "Our journey involved many dark train and bus rides, as well as hunger, thirst, cold and fear. Fortunately we received asylum in The Netherlands where I grew up in a safe environment and was able to find my way in life. ... I was lucky. But as the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe has grown, many people like my family are desperate for help."