Like many people, Grant Moran became aware of the Syrian refugee crisis when he started seeing newspaper reports of rafts and boats in the Mediterranean filled with desperate people and disturbing accounts of children’s bodies washing up on the beaches. These stories affected him deeply, especially as a person who works in the children’s entertainment industry. “The Syrian refugee crisis for me was a window into a much, much larger, vaster and dark issue with child refugees,” he says.
The number of child refugees was astonishing: almost 50 million of the world’s children are refugees—one out of every 200 children on the planet. “I realized, personally, how ignorant I had been, how the worst refugee crisis since World War II is going on in the world right now.” Feeling small and hopeless in the face of such a huge humanitarian crisis, he wanted to contribute in some way.
So the Emmy award-winning writer, who has been involved in children’s and family entertainment for over 20 years, searched for a group within the children’s entertainment industry that focused on the crisis, only to discover it didn’t exist. “That’s the thing that will break the heart of anyone in our business … Children are being robbed of their childhoods.” It soon dawned on him that he’d have to be the one to ring the alarm bell.
KEPYR—Kids Entertainment Professionals for Young Refugees—was born. Moran’s objective was to rally as many people as possible from the industry around this issue and create awareness. The objective was to make it easy for anyone to go online to KEPYR.org and make a donation. Moran emphasizes that one hundred percent of the money donated to KEPYR goes directly to UNICEF USA. Nothing is deducted for operating costs, as KEPYR is an entirely volunteer-based organization.
“These children have seen and experienced things that no child should ever have to see and UNICEF provides them a safe place to land,” he says. UNICEF not only provides medical care, trauma counselling, food and shelter, but also a space in which they can become children again, where they can play.
The response to KEPYR has been universally positive. Moran says that once he explains the organization’s goals, the reaction is, “Count me in.” KEPYR has evolved over the past couple of years to a group of about a dozen people who do the work every year, assisting with graphics, social media campaigns and outreach. Moran stresses that while he may have initiated the group, his role is as a facilitator.
KEPYR’s big focus every year is the upcoming Kindred Spirits fundraising event that kicks off June 14th and spans two weeks surrounding World Refugee Day. During this online fundraising event they reach out to people to create awareness of the global child refugee crisis and to invite colleagues and friends to join in their support of UNICEF’s vital work. KEPYR’s graphics committee provides messaging to actively help spread the word on social media. This year they’ve set an ambitious goal of raising $35,000. If they meet that number, Moran says, they will have raised over $100,000 in the three years they’ve been in existence. KEPYR has received matching grants from both inside and outside the industry and they encourage other studios to match employee contributions.
The organization also has broader ambitions—Moran says they dream of traveling to refugee camps and, for example, giving courses in animation. With the diverse skill sets of members of their group, there are many educational possibilities. But to expand their efforts they will need more people to help.
Guild members who are interested in becoming actively involved with KEPYR can contact Moran directly at Grant@KEPYR.org or go to the KEPYR website.
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