Dear John,

The entire AFSC family of supporters, volunteers, staff, and the communities we work with are very much in my thoughts in this time of pandemic. I hope you are healthy and safe! People across the country – and around the world – are hurting in many ways right now. But thanks to caring people like you, AFSC is already mobilizing to meet essential needs in the places where we work – and there is much more we can do with you by our side in the months ahead.

Will you make a gift to support the AFSC Pandemic Relief Fund? Our goal is to raise $50,000 by April 30 to help kickstart this critical effort.

The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the injustices of our world. It has also highlighted what we have always known – that we are all interconnected, that we are members of a global community, and that we all have a role to play in caring for one another.

AFSC’s Pandemic Relief Fund will fuel efforts like our new Farm to Foodbank initiative in New Mexico. Last month, farmers who trained with AFSC’s sustainable farming program were telling us: “I have not made one sale this week. My food might rot in the field.” At the same time, staff at the state’s largest foodbank were seeing a 40 percent drop in food donations from grocery stores – just as thousands more people were becoming unemployed. 

Our staff worked out an agreement: We will support farmers to buy seed and other supplies – and in return, they will donate a share of their crop to the foodbank. That will help keep small businesses afloat and feed hungry people for up to six months. And it is just one example of what your gift today can make happen.

Please make your most generous gift today to AFSC’s Pandemic Relief Fund to help bring food and essentials to people who need them to survive this pandemic.

Across the country in West Virginia, AFSC has taken a lead role in organizing Rapid Response West Virginia – a network of community groups and volunteers working to deliver food and essential supplies to those who need them most. In Georgia, we are helping tenants take steps to keep their housing. 

Our international programs, too, are meeting critical needs – often under extraordinarily challenging conditions. We are delivering hygiene kits to seniors whose access to supplies is limited by the blockade on Gaza. We are helping migrants stranded in shelters in Central America. And we are supporting health professionals in need of medical supplies in Zimbabwe.

Through more than a century of service, AFSC has grown deep roots in many communities worldwide. We have what may well be an unrivaled ability to connect activists working on a wide range of peace and justice issues with communities of faith, partner organizations, and policy makers at every level of government. And we have the strength that comes from the caring support of people like you. 

Please make your most generous gift to AFSC’s Pandemic Relief Fund today, and help us reach our goal of $50,000 by April 30. 

Let’s keep showing the world what love can do!