In hopes of spreading awareness and education, the site hosting the live footage also has a live chat available, as well as social networking tools to share the event and its message. Other pre-recorded videos, some featuring U.N. Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, are also available.

There are also texting options for users taking part, including an opportunity to make a $5 donation using a cell phone.

From 9 AM to 9 PM Eastern Time, site visitors will be able to see a glimpse into the world of  refugees receiving aid in Chad, Colombia, Pakistan and Iraq.

The camp in Djabal, Chad is the temporary home to more than 250,000 people displaced from the genocide in Darfur.

“Whether it be from Darfur, Myanmar or the Swat Valley, or some as yet unknown crisis, mass migrations will be a feature of our future. We must look beyond the simple numbers and instead at the individual,” says Jolie, touching on this year’s theme, “Real People, Real Needs.”

Indeed, while the word “refugee” may sound so foreign, any one of us could become one at a moment’s notice; just ask any survivor of Hurricane Katrina. The U.N. estimates that there are over 40 million refugees displaced from their homes right now, 80% of whom are in developing countries.

To learn more or to participate in today’s extraordinary event of global solidarity, click here.

A massive blanket drive for people living in Northern Iraq has been created by combat medic Spc. Steve Stephens of Portland, Oregon. He and his fellow soldiers have decided to help people who have been displaced by the fighting and have no electricity or heat.

“It is our mission to make a positive difference in their lives; and as simple as a blanket may be to those back home, a blanket to those who have nothing is more of a necessity than it is a want,” he says.

Soldiers Helping Those in Need-Iraq, Stephens’ program, is completely voluntary and receives no aid from the government. Through their efforts, these troops have collected over 3,500 blankets to date. As they pass out the blankets to Iraqi people, the troops also distribute candy and toys.

Stephens took on the project after an organized toy drive for children led him to the realization that people were in need of blankets much more than toys. He has done charity work for much of his life–some through his church, and others through swimming events through which he raised funds for child cancer and domestic abuse programs.

Now that Stephens is safely home, Major Alex Stephenson of Medfield, Massachusetts coordinates the program.

For $8.50 (including shipping) you can send a blanket from blankets.com directly to a person in need in Iraq.