May 15th, 2008 by jonah
I just completed our IRS Form 990 and financial statements for fiscal/calendar year 2007. I hope these documents give you insight into our operations and convince you that we handle your donations responsibly, keeping our promise to donate 100% of proceeds. They are available here:
May 5th, 2008 by jonah
The story of number 1644 belongs to Neena Pack. Neena is a young woman from Salt Lake City, Utah who produced a dance concert and donated all proceeds to the Darfur Wall. Last year, she sent me an unassuming email mentioning her project and asking for my mailing address. Only when I received the donation, with a letter from her mother, did I realize the initiative, selflessness, and compassion Neena had demonstrated in organizing her event. In the letter, her mother, Sohila Beirami Dahaghi, wrote:
Neena worked for nearly half a year on this project and as her mother I am so proud! She overcame many obstacles … She spent all of her allowance on fliers … everyday after school she would go hand them out to all the students at seven different high schools! … She sent numerous emails and phone calls to the radio station and finally they made an announcement … She spent countless hours making 12 foot banners and posters and bought wristbands for the night of the event. Neena is only 16 and has accomplished what some will never do in a lifetime! And I just want you to know, this money is truly coming from her heart.
May 5th, 2008 by jonah
Behind each number on the Darfur Wall is a story. Behind number one is my brother Matt, who showed his support of my unlikely project by turning on the first light. Behind numbers five and six are my friends Dan and Lauren who, recently engaged, requested spots together. Behind number 81406 are my sister and brother-in-law, Alexis and Sam, who lit the birth-number of my niece Lucy True.
When people light their numbers, they tell me their stories. Some share creative fund-raising ideas, others tell about family members they wish to honor, and a few confide how genocide and hatred have affected their lives. All inspire. To paraphrase one donor, a story has the power to transform hatred and horror into beauty and understanding.
So far, this blog has been introverted, focusing on our progress towards raising $400,000. I would like to change the mold a bit. While I will still post updates on donations, press, etc., I will also feature donor stories. I hope they will interest and inspire you as they have me. If you have a story to share, please send me email.
May 1st, 2008 by jonah
Today I sent $4,000 to our four beneficiaries: Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, Save Darfur, and the Sudan Aid Fund. That means we’ve contributed $80,000 in total, representing 20% of the Wall. And more will be on the way soon.
April 28th, 2008 by jonah
On Tuesday the 29th, I’m going to see Mia Farrow and Bernard Henri-Levy discuss Darfur at the French Institute in New York. The event is sponsored by Guernica Magazine and is part of the PEN World Voices festival. Don’t miss it if you are in the New York area. More details below and at the French Institute’s web site.
Join Guernica this Tuesday, April 29th for “Crisis Darfur: A Conversation with Mia Farrow and Bernard-Henri Lévy.” Ms. Farrow and Mr. Levy will recount their visits to the region and their ongoing efforts to end the genocide. The panel will also consider the role that artists, intellectuals, and witnesses can play in ending the genocide. Dinaw Mengestu will moderate a discussion, following their accounts, on what’s needed now to end the atrocities in the region.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 8pm
Florence Gould Hall, The French Institute Alliance Française: 55 East 59th St.
More details and tickets
March 26th, 2008 by jonah
Eric Reeves, director of the Sudan Aid Fund, writes:
Your latest and yet again extraordinarily impressive contribution to the Sudan Aid Fund will quickly find use in providing clean water for Darfuri refugees in eastern Chad. The region is exceedingly arid, and resources for Oxfam—a primary supplier of clean water to refugees in the camps—have begun to dwindle. These dollars will make their way immediately to Oxfam and on to the endangered Darfuris who will perish without clean water, even as escalating insecurity, orchestrated by Khartoum, makes refugee returns impossible.
March 19th, 2008 by jonah
In a recent article in The New Republic, Eric Reeves describes the state of affairs in Darfur:
What we’re seeing in Darfur now is a level of ethnically targeted violence that hasn’t been approached since the terrifying days of 2004. Beginning on February 8, Janjaweed militias, coordinating with Khartoum’s regular troops and military aircraft, began to attack areas north of el-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur. … Soon, the destruction of ethnically African Masseleit and Erenga civilians and towns began in earnest. Militarily imprecise barrel bombs leveled much of these three towns, as well as surrounding villages and displaced persons camps. More than 60,000 civilians fled, perhaps 12,000 into eastern Chad. … In Silea, a town of 25,000, only 200 remained when aid officials arrived on February 14.
Clearly, even after five years, the situation is dire. Our help has never been needed more. So today I am glad to send $8,000 to our beneficiaries, bringing the total to $72,000. Thank you to all who have donated.
March 19th, 2008 by jonah
In January, I moved to New York (to attend graduate school at Columbia), and I brought the Darfur Foundation with me. The Foundation’s new address is 256 Grand Street, 1st Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11211.
Update: Address change
March 16th, 2008 by jonah
Over the next few weeks, we will be running ads like the one below all across the Internet. We hope they will grab people’s attention and compel them to visit the Wall and light a number.
We’d love for you to post the ad on your own web site or blog. Please visit the promotional materials page, where you can find this ad in several dimensions — and lots more.
