St. John’s Church Fundraising for East Africa Famine Relief
Article/Photos from Pastor David Guiliano
A community fundraiser for East African Famine relief will be held at St. John’s United Church on Friday September 9th.
The crisis caused by drought in East Africa has reached catastrophic proportions. The United Nations has raised its food security alert level to its maximum. According to the members of the Humanitarian Coalition, at least 10 million people are now affected in the region, particularly in Somalia, southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya. The population of the largest refugee camp in the world, Dadaab in Kenya has now surpassed 380,000 individuals. Given the scale and scope of this worsening situation, this humanitarian crisis is now the largest in the world.
Throughout Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, millions of people – mostly children – are in urgent need of food, drinking water and basic sanitation. Entire communities have literally collapsed, livelihoods are already damaged beyond repair and children and families are severely affected by malnutrition. Some estimates predict that one in four children in the region will die.
To raise funds to assist in this dire situation a Family Games Night will be held St. John’s Church on Friday September 9th, at 7:30pm. Admission is by donation to The Humanitarian Coalition. The Coalition is made up of Oxfam, Care, Plan and Save the Children, all of which are Canadian non-governmental organizations working to alleviate the impact of severe famine in East Africa. Donations can be made by cheque, cash or with Visa. The Government of Canada will continue to match donations until September 16th, 2011.
St. John’s weekly pot-luck dinner is at 6:00 pm and everyone is welcome. Come early!
LEARN MORE
- Those unable to attend the fundraiser/pot luck are encouraged to visit HumanitarianCoalition.ca.
