Actor Edward Norton Raises Nearly A Half Million Dollars For Needy Refugees

Avoided Deforestation Partners Rio+20 Event with Jeff Horowitz moderating discussion between Richard Branson, Edward Norton & Jane Goodall (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Avoided Deforestation Partners Rio+20 Event with Jeff Horowitz moderating discussion between Richard Branson, Edward Norton & Jane Goodall (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)


Actor Edward Norton was recently moved to tears after witnessing the story of a Syrian refugee family that is relocating to Michigan after experiencing massive tragedy. One of the surviving members of the family is a father who now has cancer while he is grieving over the death of his wife and daughter. The father is actually a scientist who had many great plans for the world before his life was struck by tragedy.

In a fundraiser page he recently created, Norton said:

“I saw this story on one of my favorite sites, Humans of New York, and it moved me to tears. This man has suffered profound loss that would crush the spirit of many people and yet he still passionately wants a chance to contribute positively to the world.  If we don’t welcome people like this into our communities and empower his dream of making an impact with his life, then we’re not the country we tell ourselves we are.   Let’s reject the ‘anti-human’ voices that tell us to fear refugees and show this man and his family what Americans are really made of.  Let’s show that a country built by the energy and dreams of immigrants still believes in brave people who come here with hope for better life.

Everything we raise here will go to help this family so that the father can get the medical treatment he needs to live and pursue his work, and his family can build a new stable life after their tragedy, and…as the Scientist beautifully expresses…to support his dream of contributing to the world.”

The scientist has a number of inventions that he plans on working on when he gets back to the US.

“I still think I have a chance to make a difference in the world. I have several inventions that I’m hoping to patent once I get to America. One of my inventions is being used right now on the Istanbul metro to generate electricity from the movement of the train. I have sketches for a plane that can fly for 48 hours without fuel. I’ve been thinking about a device that can predict earthquakes weeks before they happen. I just want a place to do my research. I learned today that I’m going to Troy, Michigan. I know nothing about it. I just hope that it’s safe and that it’s a place where they respect science. I just want to get back to work. I want to be a person again. I don’t want the world to think I’m over. I’m still here,” the scientist said in a recent statement.

Norton’s fundraiser has already earned close to a half million dollars.

While this is truly incredible, there are many other people out there who are struggling who may have even less opportunity than the scientist does.

It would be nice to see a portion of this money go to other refugees, or perhaps an extension of the charity effort that will help more people. The many millions of refugees throughout the world are struggling in the same way. Unfortunately, they have not had the benefit on being on a tv show, so they remain faceless, but these people need our help too. This is not to take away from the incredible effort that has been made in this situation, but with such a large amount of money being raised for one family it seems that now that they are taken care of we should continue the effort elsewhere with the same dedication.


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John Vibes is an author and researcher who organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference. He also has a publishing company where he offers a censorship free platform for both fiction and non-fiction writers. You can contact him and stay connected to his work at his Facebook page. You can purchase his books, or get your own book published at his website www.JohnVibes.com.

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