LIFTING HANDS SINCE 2016
JANUARY
Hayley Smith (LHI Founder/Director) volunteers independently on Lesvos and realizes much organization was needed to effectively and efficiently distribute appropriate aid supplies. Read about her experience here.
The lifejacket graveyard on Lesvos represents hundreds of thousands of refugees who crossed to Greece from Turkey.
MARCH
LHI is founded as a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization.
APRIL
LHI’s Greatest Need program launches to provide funding to partner orgs distributing aid to refugees.
JUNE
LHI’s Utah Refugee Aid program launches providing aid to resettled refugees in Utah.
Donated items are used to furnish apartments for resettled refugees.
AUGUST
LHI launches its educational program inside Serres Refugee Camp in Greece.
Yazidi refugees learn English inside a small tent in a remote corner of the Serres Refugee Camp.
DECEMBER
LHI ships its first container of aid to assist Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
February
LHI’s International Aid program launches.
LHI ships containers of aid supplies to refugees around the world from its humanitarian aid warehouse in Utah.
APRIL
LHI’s Gather for Goats program launches to assist Syrian refugees in Jordan.
Goat milk provides vital nutrition for children and vulnerable family members living in the Jordanian desert.
SEPTEMBER
LHI opens its Refugee Center outside of Serres camp in Greece.
Yazidi children proudly display their flag at the grand opening of LHI’s Refugee Center.
NOVEMBER
LHI hires a Chief Operations Officer, its second full-time staff member.
LHI begins distribution of 50,000 hot meals to refugees in Bangladesh through a partnership with a local org.
Bangladesh is home to the world's largest refugee camp, housing over a million people.
FEBRUARY
LHI opens a library and computer space in its Greece Refugee Center.
The library provides internet access to refugees, along with many books in several languages.
MARCH
The Female-Friendly Space opens in LHI's Greece Refugee Center.
The Female-Friendly Space is a place for women and girls over the age of 13 to gather and put themselves first.
June
LHI distributes 3,000 solar lights to Yazidi refugees in Northern Iraq through its Greatest Need program.
September
LHI meets it's initial goal of distributing 800 goats to Syrian refugee families in Jordan through its Gather for Goats program.
NOVEMBER
LHI earns the Guidestar Platinum Seal of transparency.
May
LHI hires a development director, its third full-time staff member.
LHI's International Aid program moves into a larger warehouse.
Our Humanitarian Aid Warehouse in American Fork, Utah is volunteer powered!
June
LHI hits an important milestone—to date, more than 250,000 refugees around the world have received aid since our founding in 2016!
July
The inaugural issue of News from the Field, LHI's monthly email newsletter, is sent out.
LHI’s US Border Aid program launches.
August
LHI Founder/Director Hayley Smith speaks at the 68th UN Civil Society Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.
December
For the second year in a row, LHI earns the Guidestar Platinum Seal of transparency.
June
LHI hits the amazing milestone of providing aid to more than 500,000 refugees around the world!
November
For the third year in a row, LHI earns the Guidestar Platinum Seal of transparency.
January
LHI hires a Co-Director of Utah Operations, its fourth full-time staff member.
February
LHI hires a Director of Evaluation and Learning, its fifth full-time staff member.
LHI hits the incredible milestone of 1 Million critical aid items distributed!
March
LHI celebrates its 5th birthday by launching LHI💛2G (LHI Together), its new monthly giving program!
For the fourth year in a row, LHI earns the Guidestar Platinum Seal of transparency.
OCTOBER
LHI launches its Gather for Goats Kids Club. The kids who signed up collectively raised enough money to provide goats to more than 40 Syrian refugee families in critical need of improved nutrition.
February
In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, LHI launches its largest initiative to date providing relief to displaced Ukrainians and Ukrainian refugees in the region. Efforts include evacuating people from Ukraine into neighboring countries, delivering food and critical medical supplies to shelters and hospitals in the hardest hit cities in Ukraine, and providing and array of aid supplies to help refugees in Moldova, Poland, Romania, and Hungary.
“In the absence of work or school, all we did was dream, a maddening state, and battle loneliness.”