In this Oct. 6, 2017 photo, Vick Liu unrolls his TravlerPack, a lightweight sleeping bag, outside the Kresge Auditorium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass . Liu, a finance and political science major, created a line of lightweight sleeping bags for refugees who have few other options to keep warm during winters in the Middle East. Liu and a team of five classmates are sending sleeping bags to resettlement areas in Syria and hope to send more to refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. (AP Photo/Collin Binkley)
The Associated Press
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - A Massachusetts Institute of Technology student has created a new line of sleeping bags designed to help Syrian refugees survive winters in the Middle East.
Sophomore Vick Liu designed the TravlerPack from his dorm room and recently raised $17,000 to send the first 250 to resettlement areas in Syria.
Freezing temperatures in Syria and surrounding countries have been blamed for some refugee deaths in recent years, and the United Nations says 4 million in Syria and Iraq face "extreme risk" this year.
Liu designed the sleeping bag using his backpacking experience as an Eagle Scout but also gathered advice from refugees who fled Syria's civil war.
The bag can handle temperatures as low as 15 degrees Fahrenheit and includes a waterproof pocket for travel documents and a shoulder strap for portability.
In this Oct. 6, 2017 photo, Vick Liu poses with his TravlerPack, a lightweight sleeping bag, outside the Kresge Auditorium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass . Liu, a finance and political science major, created a line of lightweight sleeping bags for refugees who have few other options to keep warm during winters in the Middle East. Liu and a team of five classmates are sending sleeping bags to resettlement areas in Syria and hope to send more to refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. (AP Photo/Collin Binkley)
The Associated Press
In this Oct. 6, 2017 photo, Vick Liu displays his TravlerPack, a lightweight sleeping bag, outside the Kresge Auditorium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass . Liu, a finance and political science major, created a line of lightweight sleeping bags for refugees who have few other options to keep warm during winters in the Middle East. Liu and a team of five classmates are sending sleeping bags to resettlement areas in Syria and hope to send more to refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. (AP Photo/Collin Binkley)
The Associated Press