[IMC] What progress has been made for peace?

[Hector Cortez, AFSC]

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American Friends Service Committee

2015 PEACE BUILDING HIGHLIGHTS

DONATE BY DECEMBER 31: https://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50601/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=12559
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Dear Friend,

Please take the time to read about some of the incredible things that AFSC has accomplished this year. After you do so, I hope you will be inspired to make a generous tax-deductible year-end donation to AFSC: https://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50601/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=12559

With your financial support, we can keep planting and nurturing the seeds of change in communities near and far. Because, as you know, when individuals, communities, and nations have the courage to stand up for peace and justice, change can happen.

--  Prison justice: AFSC released an investigative report about riots at a for-profit prison in Arizona. Our report revealed insufficient medical care for prisoners, inadequate cooling in the facility, repeated sanctions for failing to fill staff vacancies, and mistreatment of prisoners by guards. Following the release of our report, Arizona's governor canceled the contract with that for-profit prison corporation.

--  Emergency relief for refugees: This summer, when thousands of Haitians were deported from the Dominican Republic, AFSC responded to the humanitarian crisis. We launched an emergency relief effort in conjunction with our ongoing programs in Haiti that provided food, shelter, sanitation kits, and healing activities for children living in temporary shelters.

--  Solitary confinement: In September, a landmark settlement in California overhauled the state's use of solitary confinement. The settlement is expected to sharply reduce the number of prisoners held in solitary and includes prohibiting placing people in indefinite solitary based on presumed gang involvement. AFSC has been a part of these efforts every step of the way.

--  Corporate influence: In Iowa and New Hampshire, AFSC's Governing under the Influence (GUI) project is working to shift our nation's political conversation. We've trained more than 900 people as "bird dogs" to follow, question, and engage candidates about the excessive influence corporations have on policies that drive our country toward more wars, more prisons, and more violence. Our GUI messages have reached influential media outlets, such as Fox News and the Boston Globe.

Through each of the actions mentioned above -- and many more too numerous to mention in a simple email -- AFSC is offering hope to parts of our world facing difficult, unsparing challenges.

However, so very much more remains to be accomplished. Solitary confinement is still used excessively in states across the U.S. Refugees and immigrants still have their human rights violated. For-profit prison companies and Pentagon contractors still have undue influence on public policy. Your generous, tax-deductible donation will ensure that AFSC starts the new year with the resources needed to plant and grow more seeds of change -- especially where people continue to face violence, poverty, and injustice. Click here: https://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50601/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=12559

Thank you for all that you do for peace and justice.

Sincerely,

Hector Cortez
Deputy General Secretary
American Friends Service Committee

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DONATE BY DECEMBER 31: https://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50601/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=12559
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American Friends Service Committee | 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102

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