A Message Of Hope Amid Border Closings In Europe's Heightening Refugee Crisis

As several countries throughout Europe, including Austria, Germany and Hungary, closed their borders to refugees Monday and Tuesday, European citizens across the continent renewed their efforts to welcome refugees. Through various grassroots organizations and rag-tag welcoming committees, people from Holland to the United Kingdom to Greece sent their warm wishes to thousands of people who have been arriving on Europe's shores throughout the summer.

Groeten, meaning "greeting" in Dutch, is a project started by citizens in the Netherlands that sends postcards to refugees with words of encouragement. "After all the hard and heartbreaking journey, I welcome you to stay, live, and love in Holland!" read one card. "Welcome, may you find peace, happiness, and fulfillment," read another.

The "Refugees Welcome" movement took off several weeks earlier in the U.K. to encourage Prime Minister David Cameron to accept a higher number of asylum-seekers into the nation. Through Brits' posts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, the idea was launched, and #refugeeswelcome soon began trending across social media.

The group sparked similar movements in nations across the EU, with Germany and Austria starting a website called "Refugees Welcome" that matched residents who volunteered to share their apartment or house with refugees who were looking for a place to stay.

Even professional sports players joined the Refugees Welcome movement, pledging millions of dollars and supporting carrying banners onto the field during a recent match.

Outside of organized groups, citizens throughout Europe, and especially in Germany which has been the most popular final destination for asylum-seekers, have pitched in to donate everything from food staples, to baby formula, to toys, to clothes. In some instances, volunteers even had to turn people away because they were overwhelmed by the number of donations.

German residents also gathered in groups at central train stations to give refugees a rock star welcoming, handing out water to tired travelers and candy for young children.

Even in Denmark, where authorities have been strict on refugees, closing borders and deporting asylum-seekers, police showed kindness to some of the groups that had walked hundreds of miles to northern Europe. A police officer in southern Denmark played a game with a young Syrian refugee Wednesday along a highway where families were attempting to walk to Sweden.