Following a flood of donations, food aid restarted for 1.7 million Syrian refugees
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An influx of donations will let the U.N. World Food Program distribute food aid to 1.7 million Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, and Egypt.
The program announced on Dec. 1 that it had run out of funding and could no longer add money to electronic vouchers refugees used to buy food, Reuters reports. In the days since, $80 million has been brought in — most of that is from various governments, but $1.8 million came from individuals and private sector donors in 158 countries. By mid-December, about $30 per family member will be put on each voucher, with some funds left over for January. "This outpouring of support in such a short time is unprecedented," WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin said in a statement.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
