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Home - Factsheet - How To - Media - Message Board - Newsletter - Photos - Project - VigilKit
Add Your Vigil to our Calendar Logos for Posters or your Website Dear Friends, Thanks for requesting a Vigil Kit to hold a fundraiser to help the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan provide aid, food and shelter for the victims of the three recent devastating earthquakes. RAWA personally delivers aid to hard-to-reach parts of this drought, war, and poverty stricken country. Please be sure to sign up your vigil's date, time, and place in advance on our calendar, http://www.afghanwomensmission.org/cgi-bin/cal/calendar.pl IMPORTANT FUNDRAISING INFORMATION: Donors get tax exemption to the fullest extent of the law because Afghan Women's Mission has 501(c)(3) status through our parent organization, SEE (Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs). Checks: If you receive checks at the vigil, ask donors to write it out to Afghan Women's Mission/SEE, and we will mail them their thank you cards/tax receipts within 4-5 weeks. We use the address on the check itself to mail thank you's unless otherwise specified. Cash: If you receive cash, you can put it in your bank account and mail us one consolidated check. If one of your cash donors requests a tax receipt, take down their name, address, and amount, and we will do so. Credit Card: In case donors prefer making credit card donations, we can accept those as well. There are two ways to do that: one is to make an online donation at our web site, or you can download a form and mail us the credit card information. The pledge/donation form is included in our online fundraising web pages: http://www.afghanwomensmission.org/fundraising/ Other Donations: We accept donations of stock and estates - more information is available in the fundraising section of the web site. We cannot accept clothing, books or other items at this point because of the high shipping costs involved. We may be able to accept pharmaceutical or medical equipment donations. Below you will find: *Suggestions for setting up and holding your vigil We thank you for your support of this deserving fund. The best of luck for your event. We hope you will share your experience in participating in this vigil on our message board. The earthquake web pages are located at : http://www.afghanwomensmission.org/earthquake/ If you require photos for publicity purposes or suggestions for poetry readings, you will find them in this section of the web site. If you have questions about AWM or RAWA, you can read our frequently asked questions at: http://www.afghanwomensmission.org/FAQ/ If you don't find your question answered there, please email us at info@afghanwomensmission.org. Please feel free to visit our website and learn more about RAWA's humanitarian work in hospitals, orphanages, and women's and children's schools. In Solidarity, The AWM Team "Light a Candle of Hope - April 20-27, 2001" TIPS ON HOLDING YOUR OWN VIGIL You can hold your candlelight vigil anytime during the week of April 20-27. It takes only three or four enthusiastic people to put together a successful event. IDEAS ON WHAT TO SAY/DO If you have a small group of people, you may choose to let each of your vigil participants say a few words about how they feel linked to the people who suffered in the quake. You can also have a moment of silence and ask everyone to think about those who lost their lives, or their loved ones, their homes, their crops, and their hope in this disaster. If you have a large event planned, you may consider organizing a speaker, a video, musicians or performers, a poet or group of poets, to express creatively the symbol of this vigil and the hope it will bring to the Afghan people. If you can't come up with a speaker or performer, one easy idea is to simply collect a number of poems or readings on the plight of the Afghan people in particular (see www.rawa.org for true stories about Afghan refugees), or even about the earthquake. We will be posting poetry and other creative work on our web site to inspire you and help you plan your unique event. CANDLES You can buy candles inexpensively at most department stores, bulk-foods stores or on the web. Tea lights, small candles surrounded by aluminum cups, are inexpensive, last a few hours, and are safe to hold in a bare hand. You might even decorate the outside of the cup with stickers or fabric (BEFORE lighting.) HELP WITH FUNDRAISING We are asking that each vigil participant donate a dollar, but of course, the more raised the better for the aid effort. Sometimes it is easier to appeal for a set amount at the door rather than simply passing a hat later. Remember to allow a sliding scale for low-income participants. To provide for a single victim for 30 days costs RAWA just $30. Here is the break-up of how RAWA proposes to spend the money. This is based on previous relief efforts in earthquake areas and also based on current information coming to RAWA regarding needs of the victims. Cost of Aid Per Person for 30 days: $30 Breakdown: Food: $8 If you or your fellow participants can only afford a dollar each - well, that provides for aid relief for one person for one day. If you can afford $30, it pays for aid relief for one person for 30 days. We make one request: Please try to send us donations of at least $5 if at all possible. It saves us administrative overhead and time. Send donations raised during your vigil to: The Afghan Women's Mission Make check or money order payable to "SEE/Afghan Women's Mission" You will receive a receipt shortly to confirm that we have deposited your donation. You can also make your donation via our web site using your credit card. Afghan Women's Mission also accepts donation of stock, grants from foundations and other forms of donation such as gifts of estates. Please contact us for more information. Thank you for your kindness, generosity, and humanity. SOME FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW Afghan Women's Mission (AWM) as a project of its parent organization, SEE (Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs), has 501 (c) (3) US non-profit. SEE's tax identification number is 95-4116679. Please use this number to record your charitable donation. Your donation is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. If you live outside the US however, your donation may not be tax-deductible in the country of your residence. AWM is a project within SEE of which there are several hundred other projects all managed separately, but connected through the parent organization. AWM is not aligned with any fundamentalist groups. In fact, we oppose fundamentalism and all the problems it has created in Afghanistan and all over the world. Your money reaches the Afghan earthquake victims through RAWA, The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, a brave group of women who have been struggling against fundamentalism, for freedom, democracy, women's rights and human rights for more than two decades. You can learn more about RAWA at www.rawa.org. For more information related to donations, AWM, SEE, and RAWA, we request that you first read the Frequently Asked Questions page on our web site: http://www.afghanwomensmission.org/FAQ/ You are most likely to find the answer to most of your questions there - and it will allow us to serve you most effeciently. Of course, if you do not find the answer to your question on the FAQ web page, please email us at info@afghanwomensmission.org THE VIGIL PROJECT AND COMMUNITY We invite you to participate in the candlelight vigil for the earthquake victims to create an inextricable bond with them - the Afghan people, who have suffered severe drought, fundamentalism, twenty years of war and occupation, and most recently, devastating bombing. The simplest way to hold a vigil is to gather together a group, in a public or private place, and light candles. We ask that each vigil participant donate at least one dollar to remember these women, suffering so much. You may wish to hold your vigil at your work place, in your home, at a restaurant, in a park, or a place of worship. Light candles, express your feelings through music, art or poetry, and send us your thoughts and messages for the innocent victims of this terrible tragedy. Please try to publicize your event! Contact your local newspapers, radio and TV stations, and let them know that you are holding a vigil. A sample press release is included in the kit. Email friends, family, coworkers, and members of organizations you belong to, and ask them to also support this candlelight vigil. We will select several messages and translate them for the earthquake victims, bringing them hope and healing so they know they are not alone in their suffering. The Vigil Community Spread the light across the world! By holding a vigil you will be joining a worldwide community of caring people. Know that your vigil will become part of the world's vigil for the people of Afghanistan. One drop at a time, this ocean of love and humanity will reach our fellow beings in Afghanistan. Here are some resources for celebrating the vigil: ·The Afghan Women's Mission (AWM) hosts a web site where people come
together to share their experience in holding a vigil. Click on to http://www.afghanwomensmission.org
to join our community. We welcome you to our virtual home! |
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