enote 47 September 16, 2008
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As I write this enote on the 7th
anniversary of that tragic day we remember as 9/11, I am reminded
once again of the words of Rowan Williams the Archbishop of
Canterbury, who said “[Terrorism] is the weapon of those who have
nothing
to lose. If we want it not to happen, we have to be asking what it
means that the world has so many people in it who believe they have
nothing to lose." I believe that education brings people to a place
where they can live better lives. And in that circumstance they will
be less likely to throw their lives away in acts of violence. We
hope our work, in some small way is contributing to world peace.
Those of you who are on our mailing list know that this is the season we make our request for donations to support our work. Over the years our organization has grown so that now we seek money from philanthropic groups, private foundations, churches, but it is still the individual donor who is the foundation of our work. For the last several years over 70% of our income has been given by individuals like yourself, and we are indeed fortunate that many of you are so generous in support of the oppressed people with whom we work. I must say however that many of you who regularly receive these enotes have not contributed to our work. To those of you, will you please consider giving to our work during this season. Our refugee friends need your consideration and help. And we will be deeply grateful to you for joining us.
A New TRep Coordinator:
Most of you know that we, Tom and Liz, now in our mid-seventies, have been seeking to engage younger and more vigorous people in our work. Last year we had a pretty complete cadre of five persons, we call them Trustee Representatives TReps for short, who work with us in monitoring our students and projects. This year we want them to work together making decisions for Fund support without our help. We have asked Hoppy Winfield to coordinate their work, and prepare a set of recommendations for our Board of Trustees at their April meeting. We have been delighted that all who have responded, are enthusiastic about the idea. And we are looking forward to a very fine trip this January.
Speaking about the trip we are having
one couple, an old friend of mine from undergraduate days and his
wife visit our work. There is still room for another one or two
persons, just contact us.
The DVDs of our latest trip are now ready, and yours is one for the
asking, Just give us a call or send us a note giving your mailing
address. Thanks.
Activities:
From late July to the present we have:
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Spent our time mostly on office work.
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Experimented with new relational database software to keep track of our many and diverse contacts.
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Written several grant proposals and reports.
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Worked out some details of the emerging relationship of TReps to the Fund.
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Completed a mailer for our new DVD. (We think it looks great. Watch for it.)
We are always interested in your ideas
and suggestions. Please contact us at any time.
Best wishes to you.
under Charity Name type "The Brackett Refugee Education Fund"
or send a check to
The Brackett Refugee Education Fund, P.O. Box 8 Hamilton, NY 13346
phone (315) 824-3435 thomas.brackett@gmail.com
Copyright © 2008 The Brackett Refugee Education Fund. All rights reserved.