I cannot read about one more refugee family drowning at Europe's doors, or suffocating in a truck to get to freedom. My heart is broken, and as long as I watch the news, I can’t stop crying.

But yesterday, a ray of hope came —after Iceland offered to take a pitiful 50 refugees, one woman asked her Facebook followers to offer to host a refugee family. And in one day 10,000 people responded. Now the Icelandic government has said it will reconsider the numbers.

This is exactly how we can rise to this global crisis. If enough of us say to our leaders, who are putting up fences and pulling up drawbridges, we reject your politics of xenophobia, and we say to our brothers and sisters "Welcome Home", we can force our leaders to give sanctuary to those who need safe haven.

But the numbers need to be truly massive, everywhere. The EU meets in days and our numbers across the continent will influence how many people our leaders offer to help. But that's not enough -- this is a global crisis and we need leaders everywhere to respond. Sign now -- if every Avaaz member signs and then shares the pledge everywhere, on Facebook, Twitter, via email, wherever, we can build the largest refugee welcome ever.

Mia Cambronero, Avaaz Senior Campaign