Friend – today is a critical day.

For families living in poverty around the world, today could be the difference between staying afloat or falling into despair. In places where people are already facing multiple threats to their health and livelihoods, the prospect of COVID-19 getting a foothold could overload already weak health systems.

And today is a pivotal day for you too. Today is the last day of our Oxfam Membership Drive, and the last opportunity for you to be the difference in the lives of these families. We've set a goal of 1,000 renewing members by midnight tonight – that means we need 361 more TODAY. Will you join us?

We are working with our partners, government health ministries, and key UN agencies in 65 countries to coordinate our response to COVID-19. From our experience with other outbreaks, we know that working directly with communities to ensure they have access to the right information and are involved in decisions that affect their lives is critical. We are also relying on our experience helping at-risk communities with access to clean water, soap, and good hygiene practices.

Here are our top three high-priority initiatives we're targeting this year, in addition to our COVID-19 response, together with your committed support:

1. Shifting power and resources to local humanitarian leaders. Armed conflicts and climate-related emergencies alike are creating crisis after crisis. We're working to support local humanitarian organizers to use their local knowledge to save lives in emergencies and help their communities recover.
2. Combating climate change through land rights work in the Amazon. We're working on land rights not only to protect the rights of those who live in the Amazon, but to stop big business from taking that land and devastating the climate. This past year we've brought that strategy to life in Peru and Colombia – now we can continue this work in Brazil and Bolivia.
3. Tirelessly pursuing gender justice. This initiative is at the heart of everything we do. We run a wide array of programs in many countries – like working with the Ghana Education Service to build schools for girls, and advocating for new family laws in Mozambique. With your support, we're expanding this work in the coming year.

Today is the last day for you to stand up with us and push for these initiatives before our midnight fundraising deadline. We can't pursue any of these initiatives without you – Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work. Will you join us?

Thanks again for all that you do.

Sincerely,
Abby Maxman
President, Oxfam America