Mark KennedyThere’s something special about little Leya Alani these days, people say. Maybe it’s the way she carries herself, as if a higher purpose has lifted her chin an inch.
Leya, a second-grader at The Bright School, is the face of a campaign to gather warm clothes for some of the most desperate people in the world — Iraqis fleeing cities occupied by ISIS, the militants who have uprooted families in northern and eastern Iraq in their brutal quest to install an Islamic caliphate.
“It makes me feel good that my school is helping these families,” Leya said in an interview last week.
About 900,000 Iraqis have fled north to refugee camps in neighboring Kurdistan, including many from a province where Leya’s relatives live. What began as a modest effort by a Chattanooga family to send a few winter coats to refugees has mushroomed into much more.
Deena Alani, Leya’s mother, said she brought a couple of cardboard boxes to The Bright School a few weeks ago to contain what she expected to be only a handful of donations from Bright families. Twelve SUV loads later, she is still sorting clothes.
“It’s a way for us to take on a project and have an impact,” said O.J. Morgan, Bright School headmaster. “Also, it’s child-centered. … This is helping a family that is part of our community.”
Bright School guidance counselor Nicole Smith agreed that the clothing drive, which has been dubbed “Bright Hearts, Caring Coats,” teaches children about sharing.
“We’re letting them know that everyone is not as fortunate as we are, and that we should count our blessings,” Smith said.
Deena Alani’s husband, Wesam, has a cousin in Kurdistan who reports that Iraqi refugee children there are dying from hypothermia. As many as 11 perished in one week, he said. Many children, along with their parents, were displaced from their homes in Iraq by ISIS forces with only the clothes on their backs.
Deena Alani said her basement is half full of garments, including 208 coats and jackets, 25 blankets, 30 pairs of shoes and scores of hats, scarves and socks. The question, she said, is no longer, “Will people give?” Now, it’s “How are we going to get all this stuff shipped?”
Deena and Wesam are both Chattanooga-area dentists with family roots in Iraq. Deena was born in the United States of Iraqi parents, and Wesam is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Iraq. Both were living in Baghdad when the U.S.-Iraq war broke out after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and they moved to Dubai when things got dicey there.
They still have relatives living in Iraq and get regular reports on the situation with ISIS. Deena said many of the refugees fled from warmer climates in Iraq to a colder latitude in Kurdistan with no time to prepare. There is also a dire need for infant formula and baby diapers in the refugee camps, she said.
Now that donations are at hand, the Alanis have begun working on the logistics of moving the supplies to Kurdistan. An initial shipment will cost about $2,500 to move, they say. Meanwhile, Bright School officials are seeking more clothing and donations to help with logistical costs.
Anyone interesting in joining the effort, either by donating gently used winter garments or giving money to help with delivery costs, can contact Nicole Smith at nsmith@brightschool.com.
If you feel helpless in the face of grisly headlines about ISIS atrocities this week, here’s your chance to help relieve the human suffering 6,000 miles away.
Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6645. Follow him on Twitter @TFPCOLUMNIST. Subscribe to his Facebook updates at www.facebook.com/mkennedycolumnist.