SATURDAY, JULY 20, 2024

Weekend Reading

Dear Friend,

All children should have the food they need to be healthy and thrive. AFSC has a long history of providing food to children, including thousands in Europe during World Wars I and II. Today, we're working to ensure students in the U.S. don’t go hungry while school is out. We're urging governors in several states to implement a federal program known as SUN Bucks. The program helps low-income families with school-age children afford groceries during the summer months. However, 11 states have chosen not to participate in this state-federal partnership and two states plan to abandon the program in 2025, leaving 9 million children behind.

Learn more about our No Hunger Summer campaign. [link removed]

Here are this week's picks to inform and support your activism:

What it’s like to evacuate your home in Gaza: [link removed] More than 1.9 Palestinians have been displaced by Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza. The act of evacuating one’s home is extremely emotional, writes AFSC’s Yousef Aljamal. Palestinians often have only a few minutes to pack food, water, and important documents. Family memories cannot be carried in a handbag or suitcase.

TODAY: Peacemaking & Earthcare (11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT): [link removed] Join us today for a conversation with AFSC’s Joyce Ajlouny and Lindsey Fielder Cook of the Quaker United Nations Office. They’ll discuss their work at the intersection of global peacemaking and climate change. Together, we’ll explore how we can transform the impacts of war and conflict to build a life-giving future for people and the planet. Register now.

Trapped by technicalities: [link removed] In New Jersey, an estimated 1,700 people are imprisoned for technical parole violations. These aren’t criminal offenses. Technical parole violations are usually minor infractions, such as missing an appointment with a parole officer. Still, these infractions can put someone who has already served their sentence back behind bars. It’s time to change that, writes AFSC’s Bonnie Kerness.

Tell your governor to restore voting rights for all: [link removed] The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy and should never be taken away. But as the November elections near, 4.6 million people will be denied that right because they have felony convictions. They are disproportionately Black and Brown people. Urge your governor to end felony disenfranchisement today!

Nelson Mandela’s grandson endorses Apartheid-Free Communities: [link removed] July 18 was Nelson Mandela Day. It’s fitting that his grandson, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, has been an outspoken advocate to end apartheid in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. Earlier this month, he issued a statement supporting the Apartheid-Free Communities initiative [link removed] , which was launched by AFSC and partners in 2023. The initiative calls on congregations, cities, campuses, and organizations to cut ties with Israeli apartheid. Read his statement. (Facebook)

Special thanks to our monthly donors, our Partners for Peace, for their ongoing support to make all our work possible.

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