Saudi king donates $104 million for Syria food aid

A $104 million donation from Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has helped restore food vouchers for 1.7 million Syrian refugees as winter approaches.

A statement Wednesday from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesman expresses profound gratitude and says the money will help get food to millions of refugees from Syria as well as South Sudan and Somalia.

The World Food Program caused alarm last week when it announced that it would have to cut food vouchers to Syrian refugees. But an unusual social media campaign brought in more than $1 million from the public, while countries donated millions more.

In the end, the $64 million request was far surpassed.

The crisis in Syria is just one of several around the world that have stretched U.N. aid resources.