As we welcome the change of season, many of us look forward to cozy evenings by the fire, soft blankets, and the comfort of home. For millions of families around the world, winter is a life-threatening season marked by fear and hardship. Violence, conflict, and persecution are not seasonal. Refugees are forced to flee their homes with nothing more than what they can carry. They face freezing temperatures without adequate shelter, warm clothing, and basic survival essentials.
For over 70 years, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been there for families in their hardest moments, offering protection, support, and a chance to rebuild. Today, UNHCR operates in 135 countries and more than 550 locations, delivering tents, blankets, food, clean water, medical care, and emergency shelter. Over the decades, this work has helped more than 50 million refugees rebuild their lives. Our work continues to be made possible thanks to the generosity of individuals who choose to stand in solidarity with these women, men, and children.
A thoughtful plan today, such as including UNHCR in your will, can help families survive not just one winter, but the many seasons of uncertainty ahead.
Winter brings dangers that are easy for those of us in warmth and comfort to forget. Children huddle in clothing that offers little protection from freezing temperatures. Parents stay awake through bitter nights, shielding their loved ones from wind and snow that slip through their damaged shelters. Seniors often forgo their medical care, so younger family members can survive.
Ongoing and increasing cuts to humanitarian aid mean that millions of people are at risk of losing the support that keeps them safe and warm through winter. Without help from UNHCR, millions of children, parents, and seniors will be left exposed to the harshest conditions. Every year, more people are forced to flee their homes than ever before, a reality that makes your generosity more vital than ever.
UNHCR’s winter assistance programs provide blankets, heating, medical supplies, and other basic essentials that are often the only line of defense against the cold. Planning a gift in your will can help ensure this critical support continues, giving families hope not only today but for seasons and generations to come.
Your legacy can become a lifeline, offering families the tools to endure and the courage to rebuild. Even a small portion of your estate can provide tents to shelter families, blankets to keep children warm, food to sustain them, and essential household items to help them start over.
As winter sets in, what feels like a magical season for us is life-threatening for families in places like Afghanistan, where over 2.4 million people have returned to communities destroyed by conflict and earthquakes. Many arrive with little more than the clothes on their backs, face temperatures plunging to –25°C, and struggle to stay warm in damaged homes and makeshift shelters, often forced to choose between fuel, food, and medicine.
In Syria, millions of displaced people are returning home this winter, but the hope of reunion comes with harsh realities. By year’s end, over 1.5 million people are expected to return. Three in four will find their homes too damaged to live in, with broken roofs, shattered windows, and walls reduced to rubble. As temperatures plunge and winter storms sweep through, families face impossible choices – burn plastic, nylon, or scraps of rubbish to stay warm, or risk freezing, all while trying to rebuild the lives and communities they were forced to leave behind.
In a world that is becoming more and more uncertain, gifts in wills are a simple and flexible way to ensure your compassion continues beyond your lifetime. They are a practical and lasting way to support people in crisis, helping them not just survive, but thrive. For UNHCR, every act of generosity matters.
To learn more about how a gift in your will can make a lasting impact, download our brochure at unhcr.ca/legacy. Your choice today can ensure that people fleeing war, persecution, and violence have access to shelter, warmth, and hope, even through the harshest seasons. Through UNHCR, the thoughtful legacy you leave in your will can carry your compassion beyond your lifetime, helping turn bitter cold into warmth, fear into safety, and despair into the promise of a hopeful future.
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