This fall, an advance training team heads to Iraq to launch a “capacity building” training program for Iraqi community groups and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The delegation has a two-fold mission:
This initiative is a direct response to the appeal of our Iraqi friends who attended the April 15 conference on orphans in Baghdad. There are already many local organizations in Iraq who have a deep passion to help orphans in their own communities and are currently offering a range of services to help them. Capacity building training will empower them to run their organizations with greater efficiency and effectiveness, as well as to expand the kinds of services they offer to meet the physical, educational, medical, and psychosocial needs of the estimated 2.5 million orphans in Iraq today.
IMMANUEL CHRISTIAN SCHOOL DONATES $325 FOR GOODIE BAGSKatrina Schwien and her classmates at Immanuel Christian School voted before school ended for the summer to donate $325 for “goodie bags” to be distributed by Grace Clinic to Iraqi orphans and widows. The goodie bags include such items as flour, cooking oil, canned goods, pastries, socks, powdered milk, and toothbrushes and toothpaste. Attached is a picture of Katrina and SICF Vice President Jonathan Web, as well as a picture of an Iraqi boy, holding one of the goodie bags.
On Saturday, August 1, Burke Cigar and Lounge hosted a fundraiser with SICF that raised $2,378 for orphans in Iraq. Burke Cigar donated the use of its premises, auction items, and publicity. Matt Miller, an Iraq veteran and lead volunteer organizer of the event for SICF, said: “Having seen first-hand the faces of Iraqi orphans, it was rewarding to know others took an interest in helping the least among us. The American people care deeply about those in need and this event confirmed that notion.”
In addition to the training initiative, SICF continues to work on projects to help orphans at the ”City Dump” in Baghdad, a community center for orphans in Najaf, a clinic serving widows and orphans, and others. Many other projects are available to interested sponsors. If you or your organization might like to partner with a specific project, please email [email protected] to explore an orphan project that is the best fit for you.
If you would like a relatively painless way to be an ongoing supporter of SICF and its mission to help the orphaned boys and girls of Iraq, please consider subscribing to our “$1 a day” giving initiative, Believe it not, that $1 a day becomes $30 a month and $360 a year! SICF is a 501(c)(3) organization so your gifts are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. If you are already fully subscribed to SICF or other charities, please consider forwarding this message to someone else you think might be interested.
To access the giving site, go to: http://sicfiraq.org/wp/donate/ and click on “Subscribe”. The link to PayPal provides the option of giving by credit card or bank account.
If you are short on finances but have some extra time, the SICF would love to have you join our volunteers! SICF has no paid staff so we welcome individuals who have skills in public relations, office administration, bookkeeping, fundraising, speaking, etc. Just email us at [email protected]