An Appeal From a Friend

A good friend is doing the sort of thing so few of us do - venturing outside America's borders to offer help to the World's most unfortunate. I'm most assuredly NOT talking about Iraq, even though I hold nothing against those soldiers forced to go there and deal with someone else's mess. No, this friend (Josh Bycel, a writer who really embodies all the best that selflessness can be) is going to help in Africa with the refugee disaster spilling over the borders from Sudan. I can't do a better job than Josh in summing up his aims, so I'm posting his letter hereafter. Yes, people - he's trying to raise funds to contribute in the effort he's joining in Chad. But those funds are tax-deductible and entirely good for your karmic sense of self. All the appropriate contact info follows, but let me know if you have questions/comments/well-wishes you want me to pass along.
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Dear Friends,

I am going to Chad. Yes, Chad. In Africa. It is one of the poorest countries in the world today…and yet one of the most generous. I’m going and I need your help. I am going to Chad this April because over the last year 200,000 people have gone there before me. These people are refugees fleeing the horrors of civil war and genocide in the Darfur region of western Sudan. They have lost everything. And those are the lucky ones. 100,000 people have been slaughtered in what the United Nations calls the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world today.”
I am going to Chad because I don’t agree with the belief that Americans care only about themselves. I know in my heart we all have a passion for idealism - a desire to make an impact in the world. Just look at the amazing outpour of support for the victims of the tsunami. This might be a naïve attitude but I really believe what we do and say still matters around the world.
I am going because over half of the refugees in Chad are children. One of my passions in life is working with and helping kids. Seeing the pictures of the haunted, yet still smiling refugee children made me realize that I must do my best to make everyone understand…Chad is ground zero in the fight to save the youth of the world.
I am not a doctor or aid worker and there’s a reason “Sitcom Writers Without Borders” hasn’t been created. But I am going to raise money for -- and awareness of -- the people who are the true heroes…the doctors, nurses, and aid workers of the International Medical Corps (IMC). THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN.
I have committed to raising at least $50,000 for IMC. While in Chad, I will be volunteering with the IMC. The money I raise will go directly towards immunizing children, caring for pregnant women, providing food and water and, most importantly, building a small hospital to care for over 200,000 refugees and 100,000 Chadians.
I am paying my own way on this trip. Every penny I raise goes straight to the Sudan/Chad Relief fund. I know this is a hard time but I ask you to be as generous as you can. I am donating $2500 but any amount will make a profound difference.
You’re TAX-DEDUCTIBLE donation can be done online at https://www.imcworldwide.org/onlinedonation.shtml (designate it Chad Relief and when asked who told you about IMC, put “Josh Bycel”) or you can send your contribution directly to the International Medical Corps at 1919 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, Ca. 90404-1950. Designate it “Sudan Relief Fund – Bycel Project.”
Don Cheadle, star of the powerful new film “Hotel Rwanda”, said, about his recent trip to Chad and the Sudan, “It’s one thing to show the numbers and think about it as statistics, and another thing to actually touch these people and hear their stories and really share with them on a human
level.” That is why I am going to Chad.
If you are interested in donating or have any questions about my trip or IMC, please let me know. I would also ask you to forward this email to anyone you think might be interested in donating. Thanks for taking the time to read this letter.

Josh

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Thanks Josh. And best of luck.