[Peace-discuss] Co-sponsor Request for IDF Fall Dinner

[Jen Tayabji]

Dear AWARE,

This is Jen from the Illinois Disciples Foundation (IDF).  I am contacting
you today to ask for your co-sponsorship of an upcoming event we're holding!

On November 5th, we're hosting our Annual Fall Dinner. This year the keynote
speakers are Paul and Pat Vogel and there talk is entitled "We're the
Problem, not the Solution: Out of Iraq NOW!" Below are excerpts from the
press release for this event that details the Vogel's bio, details about the
logistics of the dinner, etc. I am also attaching the flyer for the fall
dinner (pdf).

Agreeing to co-sponsor entails letting us use AWARE's name on
all our publicity as a co-sponsor.  Also, we would ask that you help us
publicize the event by announcing it to your membership and e-mail lists,
encouraging your members to attend the event, and possibly putting up some
of our flyers.  Monetary donations to help us defray the costs of bringing
the keynote speakers will be much appreciated, but it's by no means
required.

If AWARE would like to co-sponsor, please reply to me by
**Wednesday, October 12th at 5pm.**  Feel free to contact me with any
questions regarding the event or about co-sponsorship.  I can also be
reached by phone at the IDF at 352-8721.  Thank you very much for your
support, and we hope to hear from you.

In Solidarity,
Jen Tayabji
IDF Executive Director
***

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE IDF FALL DINNER

On Saturday, November 5th, the Illinois Disciples Foundation (IDF) will be
hosting its annual Fall Dinner. The IDF is a pioneering campus ministry with
the mission of peace with social justice. This year, the IDF is celebrating
a tremendous milestone: IDF¹s 100th anniversary. Since its inception in 1905
the IDF and its programs have been at the forefront of many peace with
justice struggles including the civil rights movement, the struggle against
the Vietnam War, the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment, the Sanctuary
movement, the struggle to eliminate U of I¹s racist mascot, ³Chief
Illiniwek,² and current anti-war work around the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan.

The IDF Annual Dinner will be featuring keynote speakers Paul and Patricia
Vogel in a talk entitled ³We¹re the Problem, Not the Solution: Out of Iraq
NOW!² Paul and Pat Vogel are active members of Military Families Speak Out
(MFSO), a national organization of over 3000 military families who are
seeking an immediate withdrawal of our troops, the proper care of our
wounded and a full accounting for this disaster. The Vogels have been
speaking out against the war since their son Aaron was deployed to Iraq in
April 2003. 

In November 2003, Paul traveled to Baqubah, Iraq, through the help of the
American Friends Service Committee, to visit his son. He was able to meet
many local Iraqi, from families with a daughter in the Baghdad orchestra, to
religious leaders who worked with local NGOs.  Paul also met with other
soldiers in Aaron's unit during his visit and heard of the suffering and
sense of betrayal these soldiers felt. The fear and anger the Iraqi people
also felt was very apparent even then. Their son returned safely in April
2004, but four soldiers in his unit were not as lucky.

In December 2004 Paul petitioned the Governor of Illinois to join only 5
other states in honoring the soldiers from our state who have been killed in
Iraq and Afghanistan, by lowering the US and State flags to half staff on
the day of the funeral for that soldier. The Governor issued a proclamation
to that effect in February 2005. In March 2005 Pat was one of six people
arrested by the Chicago police during a protest march to mark the second
anniversary of the Iraq war. Her trial will be this month. Most recently,
Pat joined Cindy Sheehan in Crawford, TX to demand an answer from President
Bush about what our soldiers were dying for.
 
On Saturday, November 5th, the doors at the Fall Dinner will open at 5:30pm
and the keynote speaker will commence at 7pm. It will be held in Wisegarver
Lounge, located on the first floor of the Illinois Disciples Foundation. The
event is wheelchair accessible. The IDF is located at the northwest corner
of Springfield and Wright streets in Champaign. Dinner tickets are $8-15 on
a sliding scale, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Raffle
tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5. The tickets are on sale in the IDF office
and at the door.
            
All of the proceeds raised at this event will go to further the IDF¹s peace
with justice mission.
 
----------------------------------------------------------------
Jen Tayabji
Executive Director
Illinois Disciples Foundation (IDF)
610 E. Springfield Ave., Champaign, IL  61820
Work (217) 352-8721 | Cell (217) 840-8248
http://www.prairienet.org/idf

"If we remember those times and places--and there are so many--where people
have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least
the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different
direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait
for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of
presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance
of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."

--Howard Zinn

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