Actor and activist Mandy Patinkin recently witnessed first­hand the refugee crisis engulfing Europe. Alongside International Rescue Committee aid workers in Greece, he met families who had fled Syria and other war­torn countries in hopes of finding a better life for their children in Europe. “Standing with them, I did not see strangers to be feared but the faces and stories of my own family.

"If the rescue boats hadn't found us, we all would have drowned," recalls Mohammed Omadi. Mohammed and his family, from Afghanistan, came face-to-face with death when forced to cross the sea to Greece to seek refuge in a safe country. Their cash, passports and luggage disappeared in the waves. Cash relief provides emergency financial assistance for families like the Omadis that have lost everything.

When forced to flee their homes, refugees can only carry so much in their arms, but they bring so many intangible gifts to their new communities: hopes and dreams, experiences and talents, traditions and family stories, resilience and determination.

Ahlan Simsim reaches children and families wherever they are—from classrooms, health clinics, and learning centers to TVs and mobile devices—through programming integrating direct services for families with award-winning educational media, including a locally produced version of Sesame Street.