fine jewelry • watches • gifts ( void ( chaos during the peak of Europe's Syrian refugee crisis. The aim of Migration Aid is to connect REFUGEE NATION volunteers with the refugees Another way Facebook is to provide relief. being used to help in the Sandor Ujhelyi, who Syrian refugee crisis is owns a restaurant, created through a project of entrepre- the Migration Aid group on neur and real estate mogul Facebook in late June 2015. Jason Buzi. When he heard It has more than 9,000 mem- about the crisis, Buzi decided bers and has grown rapidly. to do something productive. Ujhelyi used Facebook as a Jason B uzi Using his connections on way to announce that anyone Facebook and other social who would like to help in media, he launched Refugee Nation the Syrian refugee crisis should visit (www.refugeenation.org ) and sought his restaurant for a meeting. Twenty to create a new country in which these people showed at the first meeting refugees can live. with 60 at the next meeting, and then Forming a brand-new nation eventually refugees started to arrive purely for refugees sounds farfetched, by the thousands and the number of but Buzi has already found some volunteers grew with it, by as many as measure of success in reaching out to a hundred a day. influential billionaires, politicians and Facebook essentially hosts what U.N. ambassadors. His experience as has become a virtual planning board a disrupter in Silicon Valley positions for Migration Aid as it coordinates him in the right sphere of influence to volunteers to deal with legal matters, actually find traction for his idea. storage, safety and logistics through James Hathaway, director of the millions of posts, comments and chat refugee and asylum program at the messages on the social networking University of Michigan Law School, platform. is a supporter of Refugee Nation and While Facebook has proven to be loves that Buzi has a strong sense of a forum for those with pent-up emo- moral outrage about a problem that tions to argue their opinions about the could be fixed but that no one is doing humanitarian crisis and how the U.S. much about. should respond to the dire need of Buzi plans to buy or lease a large the refugees seeking safety, it has also amount of land to create a state for demonstrated its usefulness in pro- the refugees, and he's using Facebook viding assistance to the refugees and to draw support. He's already invested reducing the impact of the crisis. more than tens of thousands of his Middle- and upper-class Americans, own dollars into this idea and has the fortunate descendants of immi- raised several thousand more on grants themselves, will continue to crowdfunding sites. squabble with each other on Facebook Through the Refugee Nation over the correct policy actions the U.S. Facebook page's almost 20,000 follow- should take with regard to the Syrian ers, Buzi is quickly growing the buzz refugees, making the social network a for his idea and getting Hollywood hotbed for bickering and cantanker- megastars, world leaders and the ous debate. The positive side of the United Nations to pay attention. There coin is that the same social network might also be some collaboration is also bringing people together to between Refugee Nation and Naguib try to deal with the crisis in the most Sawiris, the Egyptian billionaire, who humane way possible. Whether it's helping the migrants is interested in buying an island for refugees. navigate the treacherous journey to safety, raising funds for a secure FACEBOOK MAKES nation to harbor the refugees or link- CONNECTIONS ing up volunteers with those in need, Another way Facebook is playing a Facebook is being exploited for good, positive role in the Syrian refugee cri- too. * sis is through Migration Aid, a closed Rabbi Jason Miller is a local educator, entrepre- Hungarian Facebook group. According neur and blogger. Read his blog at http://blog. to Forbes.com , the group has already rabbijason.com and follow him on Twitter at helped thousands of Middle Eastern @RabbiJason. refugees navigate their way through tradition to provide comfort, connections and direction to the Syrian refugees. Licolleare 7. kyle. _ . L, • FOUR GENERATIONS OF ISTRY AND CRAFTSMANSHIP 30% off Collectibles • 35% off Fine Jewelry • 40% off Swiss Timepieces through December 31 authorized Lladro dealer 4104 West Maple Road • Bloomfield Hills • Michigan 48301 • (248) 539-4555 11 M Nrno IU HO We Pay Top Dollar for Designer Handbags We buy more luxury watches, Consignment can take weeks and resell gold, and diamond jewelry shops can't pay top than anyone else in Metro dollar. We pay cash on the Detroit because we sell more spot for your luxury items! than anyone in Metro Detroit. American Jewelry & Loan - Detroit 20450 Greenfield Road Detroit, MI 48235 (313) 345-4000 info@pawndetroit.com Visit us online at PawnDetroit.com Looking for more savings in Metro Detroit? Visit our 2nd location in Pontiac, Ml. JN December 3 2015 27