wfn.org | [CONTENT] CWS SADDENED BY DEATH OF SPOKESPERSON LOU RAWLS

["Lesley Crosson" <lcrosson@churchworldservice.org>]

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE SADDENED BY DEATH OF SPOKESPERSON LOU RAWLS

NEW YORK - Jan 6 - Humanitarian agency Church World Service is saddened
today by the death of Grammy-award singer Lou Rawls, who recorded public
service announcements for the agency late last year as one of his last
acts of goodwill. The singer was as well known for his charitable
activities as he was for his smooth four-octave range. He founded the Lou
Rawls Parade of Stars Telethon, which raised millions of dollars for the
United Negro College Fund.

Says CWS Executive Director Rev John L. McCullough, "Lou Rawls seems to
have made the support of humanitarian work one of his last acts." When
Rawls's illness was announced in December, McCullough said, "It is a
measure of his own courage and his commitment to working to help people
who have had their lives changed suddenly by disaster that Mr. Rawls
enthusiastically recorded these appeals for us, even as his own life is
being changed by illness."

The spots are part of Church World Service's ongoing campaign to remind
people that the agency's work of disaster relief and recovery is a
continuing task in a world where devastating hurricanes, earthquakes,
tsunamis and other disasters can turn peoples lives upside down in a
moment.

"Just as this work carries on," says McCullough, "so will Lou Rawls'
memory in the lifetime of music he has left us to enjoy. We continue to
hold his family close in prayer."

Media Contacts:

Lesley Crosson, (212) 870-2676, lcrosson@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin - 24/7 - (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net
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