In June 2025, Orlando resident Allison Doolittle traveled to the island of Lesbos, Greece, to volunteer at a refugee camp.
She had been connected to a Greek nonprofit known as Eurorelief, aimed at serving displaced people, by a friend and fellow volunteer, Candace. Doolittle, who had lived in Athens, Greece, for five years between 2010 and 2016, used her time in Lesbos this summer to support a team of college student volunteers at the refugee camp, giving a cultural introduction, teaching some Greek and doing various behind-the-scenes tasks to benefit the residents in the camp.
“Most of the refugees are coming from Syria and Afghanistan right now,” Doolittle said. “There were also people that had come from much further.”
The camp in Lesbos is a replacement for a former shelter that had been lost in a fire. The new camp, while different, has increased safety measures and infrastructural improvements. Located near the Aegean Sea, the site is a former military base.
“I was really moved by the people that I met,” Doolittle said. “There was a really smart girl who I talked to one day, and she was just telling me about her dreams for the future and how she really wanted to go to school.”…