FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August 16, 2007
CRWRC Media Contact, U.S.: Beth DeGraff, 616-648-7821 or 1-800-55-CRWRC
U.S. OFDA Approves Darfur Relief Grant of $1.4 Million
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.: The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (www.crwrc.org) will ramp up relief for war-torn Darfur, thanks to a $1.4 million nod of continued confidence from the United States government.
CRWRC, along with five other relief organizations working together in Darfur as Global Relief Alliance (GRA), received word of the funding from the United States Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) on August 11, 2007.
"The need continues and so should our relief efforts," says CRWRC Senior Relief Project Manager Ken Little. Little will get a first hand look at the effect current aid programs have on those displaced in Darfur when he visits the Sudanese region September 14-24, 2007.
The new funds, to be used over a 12-month period starting September 2007, will expand existing projects that provide crucial needs like clean water, childhood immunizations and maternal care, as well as training programs in hygiene and HIV prevention.
It is expected that 60,000 people living in some of the most conflict-ridden areas of West Darfur will benefit from these projects.
Water sources and health standards in Darfur have been drastically depleted in the last three years from increasing interethnic clashes, military conflict, decreasing water levels and poor sanitation. Since 2005, CRWRC has provided food, water and health care to some of the two million Darfurians displaced by this humanitarian crisis.
According to the American aid coalition, Interaction, CRWRC is one of a just handful of North American non-governmental organizations (NGOs) currently providing relief and rehabilitation in Darfur.
To request an interview with Ken Little before or after his trip to Darfur, please contact Bernice Oostdyk at 1-905-336-2920, x. 298 or by email at oostdykb@crcna.ca.
To donate, please mark your check "CRWRC Darfur Relief" and mail to CRWRC, 2850 Kalamazoo Avenue, S.E., Grand Rapids, Mich., 49560-0600. Or call CRWRC at 1-800-55-CRWRC or give online at www.crwrc.org.
CRWRC is a Christian, non-profit organization of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. With a bi-national home office base in Burlington, Ontario and Grand Rapids, MI, CRWRC provides a ministry of development, relief, and justice education to people in need around the world. CRWRC is currently active in 30 countries, and has an international reputation for "helping people help themselves."
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Beth DeGraff US Media and Justice Contact 2850 Kalamazoo SE Grand Rapids, MI 49560 degraffb@crcna.org ph: 616-241-1691 x4191 fax: 616-724-0806
"Then Jesus took a towel and a basin and redefined greatness." Richard Foster