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Greetings,
We asked for your help, and you gave it in
stunning measure. A simple personal request from my family to
friends and acquaintances to support tsunami survivors in
Thailand has become a stunning phenomenon. In just over a
month, we have raised almost $150,000 from people all
over the world- and you played an important part! I am truly moved, and I want to thank you all for
your magnanimity, for your compassion, and for your faith in me.
The volume of your generosity has challenged me to think bigger.
In this email, the first of what I intend as a regular
correspondence, I will share with you the beginnings of my
attempt to live up to that challenge.
The tsunami wrought unbelievable chaos, but
no sooner had the wave receded than people rushed in to fill the
void it left. Local volunteers and stricken tourists alike
jumped in to aid the injured, to house the displaced, to reunite
separated families, and sometimes, sadly, to attend to the dead.
Stories of sacrifice, survival, and heroism are everywhere here,
and it has been my privilege to bear witness to these.
By now, for most of the survivors, the
initial threat to life and limb has passed. The challenge ahead
is to rebuild the homes, businesses, and villages that were
destroyed- to rebuild peoples’ very lives. To that
end, the Shawnee Institute has formed Hands On
Thailand, a coalition of grassroots
organizations that I have personally identified as
doing high-impact, hands-on recovery work. Together
we are already doing actual
construction on dozens of homes and businesses that were
battered by the tsunami.
Hands On
Thailand is doing amazing work. But there's so much
to be done, and we need your ongoing support. To find out
more please click here. To make a donation directly to
Hands On Thailand, please click here.
When I started this campaign, I thought
I’d be lucky to raise $25,000 to help two or three
families get back on their feet. Together we
have raised almost six times that amount, and I feel
there’s almost no limit to what we can do. Please spread
the word about The Shawnee Institute and Hands On
Thailand to your friends, family, colleagues,
congregations, sports teams, etc.
I’ll write again soon to give you
details of our successes, and also to tell you about some new
intiatives we are exploring. In the meantime, I wish each of you
a safe, prosperous, healthy, and happy 2005.
Thanks again for reaching out to needy
people half a world away,
Pete
Peter Kirkwood
Shawnee Institute
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