From RebeccaMitchell at studentprojectafricanetwork.org Fri Jan 25 21:54:40 2008 From: RebeccaMitchell at studentprojectafricanetwork.org (Rebecca Mitchell) Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 22:54:40 -0600 Subject: [span-announce] SPAN Fundraising for Pistis Academy and Orphanage Message-ID: <69cb41270801252054m36a5ac31rb8fd86a9df26d3ab@mail.gmail.com> Dear SPAN Friends, As past volunteers of SPAN, friends, family members, and people interested in African issues, many of you are aware of the ongoing turmoil in Kenya. Following the controversial Presidential elections in December, Kenya has experienced violence that has left an estimated quarter million people uprooted or homeless and an official count of at least 650 dead. Many speculate that the true numbers are much higher. While this situation has affected all of our partner non-governmental organizations and non-profits in Kenya in very hard ways, the situation at Pistis Academy and Orphanage is at the forefront of our minds at this time. Pistis is our oldest partner organization, and was in fact where SPAN began and several of the Executive Board members first met as young volunteers. Our experience there, and the people we met, truly changed our lives. I know many of our SPAN volunteers can say the same. This week, Pistis received 30 newly orphaned children whose parents were killed or homes destroyed. As the violence continues, this number will only increase. Pistis was already stretched to the breaking point before these tragedies, and is in serious need of financial support to care for these new children, as no additional support has been offered by the Kenyan government. In the past few days we have been in contact with our friends and staff there through emails, texts, and phone calls. I encourage you to read about the situation in their own words through the blogs of Cameron Dunkin (who is currently at Pistis) and another Executive Board Member, Kai Staats. Kais Blog: http://blogs.ydl.net/kai/category/out-of-africa/ Cameron's Blog: http://studentprojectafricanetwork.org/camerondunkin/2008/01/21/chronicles-of-a-refugee/ While we do not have the power to end the violence, we can help Pistis during these hard times. We ask that you consider a donation to help purchase blankets, soap, clothing, and food at a time when the prices have risen five-fold and supplies are increasingly hard to obtain due to interrupted distribution channels. This is a critical time for Pistis. SPAN will move 95% of all funds received directly to Pistis where its dispersal will be overseen by SPAN Executive Board Member Cameron Dunkin, ensuring the full effectiveness of your donation. (The remaining 5% is used for bank wiring costs and reporting fees). SPAN is currently a charity in non-profit-pending status, and we expect to be awarded our 501c3 tax exempt status sometime in 2008. At that time all contributions will be retroactively recognized as a charitable donation by the IRS. To provide a donation to Pistis, please visit: http://studentprojectafricanetwork.org/donations/ Please also visit our website often to find updates on the situation at Pistis, and Kenya at large. Thanks to all of you for the support you have shown SPAN and our partners over the years. Sincerely, Rebecca Lynn Mitchell SPAN Founder and Executive Director With the SPAN Executive Board: Cameron Dunkin Kai Staats Bradley Beherns Joseph Walla Abby Walla www.StudentProjectAfricaNetwork.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.terrasoftsolutions.com/pipermail/span-announce/attachments/20080125/61d0d43d/attachment.html