Please read this urgent email from Kellie → → → → → → → → → →
John: My colleague Kellie told me about the shocking hunger emergency she witnessed on her recent trip to Afghanistan (see more in her powerful email below). I hope you can take a moment to read her poignant reflections and rush your emergency gift [2X MATCH].
We're trying to get a total of 350 donors to step up before midnight to keep us on track to meet our goal, at this urgent hour of need. And I just ran a report... we only need 72 more donors to help reach our important goal. Will you be one of them, John?
Hi there, John. I'm Kellie Ryan, and I work on the IRC's global communications team — focusing on Afghanistan and several other crisis areas. I just returned from Afghanistan and I wanted to update you on what I saw there.
I witnessed a hunger emergency on a shocking scale. My colleagues told me that almost all the patients they see now are malnourished children, being rushed to clinics by mothers frantic with worry.
Afghan families are doing everything they can to put food on the table — but one million children face a very real risk of starvation.
I'm incredibly proud of the dedicated IRC staff members I met in Afghanistan. They are doing everything they can to ensure families in crisis are able to survive, recover and regain control of their lives — but they can't do it without the support of our IRC community around the world, including you, John.
We have so many amazing IRC community members and generous supporters. I'm confident we can reach this goal today.
John Simpson from the BBC joined me on a visit to an IRC-supported clinic near Kabul. He shared his reflections on seeing a waiting room full of sick children:
"Even to my untutored eye, as I look at the children I can see disturbing signs of malnutrition. Their hair is dry and often light-coloured; their wrists, arms and ankles are not normal for a baby, or a child of that age."
The IRC has stayed in Afghanistan through crisis after crisis — and my colleagues will stay and deliver as long as we're needed.
IRC teams have scaled up to support over 100 health care facilities, treating malnutrition as well as preventing COVID-19 and other urgent needs. We also work to support families with emergency cash to buy essentials for the winter, and with clean water and sanitation to help keep children healthy.
I've seen firsthand how your compassion can make a difference for children and families. Thank you. I really don't think I can say it enough.
P.S. I took the picture above. I met this little girl at an IRC-supported health clinic in Mosawi District, Afghanistan. Essential services have been drastically scaled back and clinics like this have not received funding in months. The IRC scaled up to fill some of the gaps. The IRC paid the salaries of the clinic staff for one month and brought running water to the clinic.
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