Carry the Future is a non-profit, international volunteer organization. We collect and personally distribute baby carriers to refugee families fleeing violence, oppression and persecution to aid refugees in their journeys to safety.
Carry the Future has received many thousands of baby carriers since our launch in September. We have personally fitted close to a third of them (around 8,000), but with the refugee crisis escalating as quickly as it has, we've decided to rise up to the challenge and sponsor teams of volunteers to personally fit the refugee families arriving in Greece daily. Additionally, we are currently working to place large batches of carriers with carefully selected Non Governmental Organizations in Europe and the Middle East.
Now we need your donations so we can continue to do our job, and get as many baby carriers to refugee families as quickly as we can!
Here’s how you can get involved:
1. Donate on this Indiegogo Campaign, and help us reach our new funding goal of $200,000!
2. Send us your gently used soft structured baby carriers with a high weight limit such as Ergo, Infantino Mei Tai, MobyGo, Tula, Boba Air, etc. (please no wraps, pouches, slings or framed backpack carriers at this time!). We currently have distribution trips lined up through April 2016, and we are working to send pallets of carriers to different target locations in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.
WEST COAST EAST COAST
For USPS:
121 W. Lexington Drive P.O. Box 9993
Suite L 106G Alexandria, VA 22304
Glendale, CA 91203
For UPS/Fedex/DHL:
MIDWEST 4551 Eisenhower Avenue
4116 Monona Drive Unit #203
Madison, WI 53716 Alexandria, VA 22304
3. Like and share this campaign! Over 70% of our donors have discovered us thanks to people like you liking and sharing on social media! You can find us at:
www.Facebook.com/CarrytheFuture
www.CarryTheFuture.org
Twitter: @Carry_TheFuture
Instagram: @carrythefuture
4. Get involved with a volunteer group in your area! You can find other local volunteers by joining the regional teams on Facebook! Link:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/520857511406561/
Our History
What started out as the work of a lone mother, has turned into a grassroots movement that has given birth to Carry The Future, a public charity focused on helping refugee families travel with safety and dignity, and empowering individuals to make a direct and meaningful impact in the lives of refugees. This campaign was launched on September 15, 2015 by Cristal Logothetis. It was a modest personal challenge to collect $2,500 and ship 100 baby carriers to family she has in Kos, Greece. Her family would then distribute those 100 carriers to refugees traveling with babies and toddlers. Their arrival on the island of Kos marks only the start of a quite arduous journey across Europe to their various asylum destinations. A simple baby carrier would provide remarkable relief and security to family members responsible for the youngest in their groups. Cristal felt if she could provide this relief to 100 families, she would be comfortable with her contribution.
Word quickly spread about Cristal’s efforts to personally help refugee families.
Within two weeks, this very campaign had gone viral, garnering attention of thousands of individuals all across the globe personally coping with the same drive to help in this crisis Cristal had been feeling. Now, instead of charging forward with this mission alone, volunteers were coming forward offering to help in whatever way Cristal needed assistance.
And it’s a good thing those volunteers did come forward because Cristal very quickly began receiving packages by the truckload at her place of employment in California. Before long, there were thousands of baby carriers donated and even more contributions on this campaign. So much so, that multiple trips with multiple volunteers began to be orchestrated.
By the end of 2015, Carry the Future was officially formed, nearly 7,000 baby carriers had been hand-delivered to refugees over the course of three trips to Greece, and a family of 5,000 volunteers had mobilized across the globe to advocate for refugees, collect carriers, and orchestrate their own plans of action.
Carry the Future proudly acknowledges the support of many corporate partners. Happy Baby Foods has donated 1,000 single-servings of baby food. KolKraft, Ergo, Tula, and more have donated baby carriers or offered discounted pricing exclusively for Carry the Future. The show of support from corporations has been remarkable thus far.
Thank you for your continued support!
- Carry the Future Team