The Simple Way One Mom Helped Thousands Of Refugee Children

Cristal Logothetis, a mom and entrepreneur, has started a new non-profit to help refugee moms and babies all over Europe.  Her mission is simple, beautiful, and touching.

Logothetis noticed that refugee mamas were often times carrying babies in their arms over rough, dangerous terrain for many weeks at a time. They have no jogging strollers, no fancy prams, and no baby carriers.

Cristal Logothetis was working in a refugee camp in Athens last month when she spotted a boy about 10 years old holding a baby in a crowd of women and girls. Logothetis knew it would be easier for the boy to transport the baby if he had a baby carrier.

After assuring him that the baby carrier she was offering him was free and showing him how to use it, he dropped his tough guy act: he grabbed Logothetis's hand and gestured excitedly, asking her to take a selfie of him using the carrier.

That moment sparked an idea for Logothetis.  She realized it would be easier for refugee parents to transport babies if they had access to baby carriers.  After the death of one 3 year old refugee, Aylan Kurdi, she knew what she had to do.

Logothetis noticed that many of the refugees in the news reports carried babies in their arms. As a mother herself, she knew that having a baby carrier would make their trips through Europe much easier, and she thought people might readily donate baby carriers. She decided to collect 100 baby carriers to send to Kos, an island where many refugees stop in their journeys.

That was the beginning of her nonprofit, Carry The Future, a group that provides refugees with donated baby carriers and messages of hope.

Logothetis may have started small, but Carry The Future has grown and continues to help more and more refugee parents and children.

Three weeks ago, she and nine other women flew to Greece and gave out 3,000 baby carriers.

Why has Carry The Future been such a successful endeavor?

Logothetis maintains that it's because she's not just providing baby carriers, she's connecting moms across the world.

“Mothers have a strong attachment to baby carriers,” she says. “We were able to provide an emotional link between the parent in the U.S. and that parent in Greece, that Syrian refugee. I think that was ultimately the core of our success and why people were so attracted [to the effort].”

Want to help? Carry The Future is still accepting baby carrier donations. Learn more about the carriers for refugee children from Today and get involved in supporting mamas everywhere.