IF YOU HAVEN'T CONTRIBUTED MONEY YET...

...and still want to. I recommend sending it to the below mentioned group for people in Mississippi.

THE SOUTHERN RELIEF FUND

THE SOUTHERN RELIEF FUND
C/O THE MISSISSIPPI WORKERS’ CENTER
FOR HUMAN RIGHTS PO BOX 1223
Greenville, MS 38702
Phone: 662-334-1122 Fax: 662-334-1274

September 2, 2005

This is an urgent appeal to our friends, members and supporters!

We are pleased to announce the launch of the Southern Relief Fund, established by the Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights to aid Mississippi Gulf Coast families and others, who are victims of Hurricane Katrina. This effort is being done in cooperation with several of our community partners, including Mississippi Legal Advocacy Network; Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance; Quitman County Development Organization; Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and Mississippi ACLU. The list is growing!

Over the years, the Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights (the Center), has counted on your support to continue its work here in the Mississippi Delta and across the state. This time we are asking you to help those whose lives have been shattered by Hurricane Katrina. We here at the Center, feel especially close to this effort, because as a worker’s rights organization, we are privileged to represent African-American workers who live and work on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. They are among the thousands who are living in a state of emergency. Many have lost everything they own. Others are barely surviving, without electrical power, water or food. Their sick and elderly relatives are without medicine. I could go on and on. But, we’ve all watched the news reports and seen these and other disturbing images of human suffering. Now, it’s time to ACT!

The Southern Relief Fund will help those in dire need of food, clothing and shelter. It will raise much needed funds to assist those who might otherwise be abandoned--those who are still living on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and other areas, in the aftermath of the hurricane. These survivors need our help as they begin the long and difficult process of putting their lives back together. Your contribution will help fund deliveries of food and supplies, as well as support efforts to restore and/or rebuild homes and communities.

Share this information with family members, friends, educators, religious leaders and elected officials. Ask them to join this important relief effort. Hold fund-raisers in your schools, churches and neighborhoods to support the Southern Relief Fund. Organize clothing and food drives in your local area. Coordinate caravans of volunteers who will come to the Mississippi Gulf Coast to lend their support. Do what you can!

Support is on the way!!! Since we announced the establishment of the Southern Relief Fund, friends and supporters have been calling and sending e-mails, offering their assistance. From Brandywine, Maryland to Miami, Florida, concerned people of goodwill, are holding parties, dances and other fund raising events. Members of the clergy are taking up special offerings and organizing programs to raise money, collect clothing and establish housing facilities.

Support is on the way!!! As calls come pouring in, we are developing a team of volunteers to take food and supplies to affected areas. We are joining with our friends in the legal community to insure that hurricane victims’ rights are protected. The community partners listed above are working together to maximize our resources and expand the scope of our capacity to provide much needed assistance. For more information about local and national efforts and to get ideas about what you can do in your area, call the Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights at 662-334-1122. If you are outside the local area, call 1-888-949-9754.

Support is on the way!!! But, we need you!!! Please, STOP! Take a moment and mail your TAX-DEDUCTIBLE contribution to the Southern Relief Fund today!

On behalf of those who are waiting for you help, I thank you.

Jaribu Hill