| International Aid |
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) This is just a note to advise that I have forwarded your cheque together with a donation from myself to Doctors Without Borders, for relief aid to Afghanistan. While normally I believe that charity begins at home, this year the need elsewhere seems especially pressing. - Peter K. Guselle The charity I chose to donate to was Medecins Sans Frontieres. This is a globally recognized and respected organization that not only prides itself on its effectiveness, but also on the lack of politics both within the organization and in its dealings with governments. They often go into areas of conflict where no one else can, or will, go. They have my respect, admiration and support. - Diwakar Dahal I chose to donate to Doctors Without Borders. This organization delivers emergency aid to victims of armed conflict, epidemics, and natural and manmade disasters, and to others who lack health care due to social or geographical isolation. With armed conflict increasing around the world, more and more innocent people are being adversely affected. Moreover, these conflicts make it difficult, if not impossible, for proper medical care to be administered. It is my hope that this money will help less fortunate people receive the medical attention that they need. - Amel Kurmally Deborah and I decided to support Médecins Sans Frontières with the BWI cheque and with an additional contribution. We chose this charity because of the important work that they do, believing that their contribution to peace and well being is appropriate for the Christmas season. I was proud to speak on behalf of this charity at your dinner, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you. - Deborah and Tom Tutsch
Windows of Hope Family Relief Fund Being a year which will go down in history as one of the most tragic, it was difficult to decide on which organization or charity would benefit the most from a monetary contribution. In the wake of the events of September 11, 2001, I was deeply touched by the way Americans, Canadians and the rest of the world banded together to help those affected by the World Trade Center disaster. Seeing the broadcasts on T.V., reading numerous stories in the newspapers and magazines, and hearing personal accounts and experiences from that horrific day, I felt that my contribution should go in some way to help the victims in New York. A friend of mine introduced me to an organization called “Windows of Hope”. This organization was started by a few restaurant owners/chefs in New York City to help provide financial support to the families of victims who worked in the food, beverage, and hospitality businesses in the World Trade Center. Of the many victims of the World Trade Center, this is one group of people who perhaps received a little less attention compared to that received by many of the large financial services companies which were affected in the tragedy. The compassion and energy that went into creating this organization is an inspiration for many to follow. It began with individuals in the Food Services Industry donating at least 10% of their paycheques, and as word spread many companies, athletes, celebrities and the general public jumped on board. With almost 99 percent of all funds received going directly to the families of the victims, “Windows of Hope” provides financial aid, scholarship programs and funds to these families. - Rob Posthumus This year we are forwarding your generous donation to the Windows of Hope Family Relief Fund. This fund is directly helping the families of the 125 September 11th victims who were either employees of Windows of the World or were workers in other food establishments in the World Trade Center complex. The Fund has already distributed over $2 million to the families and has paid for three years of health care benefits for each victim's family. Such programs as grief counselling, English as a second language classes and basic financial planning have also been established. Many of these workers had limited financial resources and little or no life insurance. Their families face enormous challenges in coping with their tragedy. - Lynda and Rob Mather Samaritan’s Purse Once again, the Brendan Wood International Charity Event for 2001 challenged my husband Chris and I to evaluate a number of organizations that could best make use of this donation. After interviewing them directly, to see how these funds would be used, we selected the international organization of Samaritan’s Purse.
This organization is led by a Board of Directors, of which Franklin Graham (son of well known evangelist, Billy Graham) is the chairman. After reviewing their financial statements, and speaking with one of their representatives, we can assure you that ninety-one cents of every dollar reaches a person in need. While their goal is to alleviate the suffering of individuals due to war, poverty, famine, or natural disaster, Samaritan’s Purse considers their primary goal to be that of reaching people with the news of God's love through His Son, Jesus Christ. Samaritan’s Purse operates a number of projects, throughout the world, including Children’s Projects, Disaster Relief, World Medical Mission, and Operation Christmas Child. I encourage you to look at their web site to get a full look at their areas of operation. They can be found at www.samaritanspurse.org/home.asp. We feel that this is such a worthy and successful organization, that we decided to match the BWI donation, in an effort to further their cause. -Bernia and Chris Wheaton Hands of Hope My donation was made to the "Hands of Hope" a non-profit organization that wants to help the rural people of Guatemala improve their lives. They provide medical care and medicine to those who are sick and do not have access to health care. Most of these people lack the basic necessities of living such as clean water and food. In some areas 50% of the children die before age seven. The Hands of Hope are currently building a medical centre in the mountain village of San Rafael. A former school teacher of my children has been involved with this charity since the beginning in 1998. In the summer of that year and every summer since, he has encouraged many of us to help in any way possible as he and others travel to Guatemala to deliver supplies to the poor. Thank you to Brendan Wood International for making this donation possible. - Sue Perkins
Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance Advocacy Society (TCFAS) TCFAS was registered as a charity in Ontario on 13 September 2001. Its Mission is to promote and work for the protection of human rights as stipulated in the UN instruments, with an emphasis on the human rights of Falun Gong practitioners in Canada and elsewhere, and to advance human rights education to the public. Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese cultivation based on its core principle of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. There were over 70 million practitioners in China and more than 50 other countries. The Chinese Government has banned this practice since July 1999 due to vast popularity among Chinese citizens. Since then, thousands of children, elderly, women and men lost their schools, jobs and houses. They were sent to jails, labour camps and mental hospitals for severely physical and mental abuse. Many of them were tortured to death openly and secretly. In the past 34 months, the known cases are over 416 already. These Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured to death in police custody. The Falun Gong Practitioners death toll reported from China is up on daily basis since June 2001. As the persecution went up recently, I felt that my mother was in great danger to live in China as a practitioner, so I decided to take her to Canada. On December 7th, 2001, I was astonished to hear my mother was arrested in Beijing, China on her way home after applying for a passport. The Chinese police officer forced her to give up her faith of believing in Truthfulness- Compassion-Tolerance, the core principle of Falun Gong, however, my mother refused. In addition, she has been on hunger strike without taking water for at least eight days. After that, she was put into Tuanhe Labour Camp for 3 months and then was moved to Xinan Women’s Labor Camp - a harsh re-education jail-like center for a 18 months sentence term without even any court trial in China. If we don’t stop this kind of crime against humanity, more innocent people will die. More families will be suffering. My case is not alone. Personally I know quite a few families in Toronto are in the same boat as me. After talking with the officers from TCFAS in Ottawa and Toronto, I decided to donate this money to them and I hope they can help me to appeal to Chinese government to release my mother and other Falun Gong practitioners who are being imprisoned in labor camps and mental disease hospitals and suffering from the brutal mistreatment for their faith in Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance. - Yang Zhendong
Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund I donated the money to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund since I have visited South Africa and have seen the poverty first hand. There are still many problems within the country which can only be eradicated if the future generation is not only cared for but also educated. Most importantly, South Africa is a country that has an extremely high AIDS rate. Twenty five percent of the population is infected with the disease, resulting in many young children being left without parents. South Africa is a country with great potential and great resources, I felt this charity would be a strong proponent in helping establish the future generations that live there. - Nadia Sakoor |
