News Briefs: August 24, 2006
Lebanon Humanitarian Crisis
August 21, 2006 – Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) continues to support the appeal issued by Action by Churches Together International for relief service in Lebanon. Donations are being accepted by CLWR directly, and through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada’s Global Hunger and Development Appeal (GHDA).
The blockade in Lebanon has eased and will hopefully be lifted in the coming few days, allowing greater movement of foreign aid materials and workers.
Displaced families in Beirut have nearly all returned to their homes in the southern suburbs of the capital or to their villages in the south. A number of families have remained, either in rented houses in Beirut or with family or friends.
Relief efforts include establishing water, sanitation and electrical services. Food and non-food parcels have been delivered; a need still exists for hygiene and cooking equipment. Aid will now be focused in villages between the Litani River and the Lebanon-Israel border, the area extending from Saida to the Litani, the southern suburbs of Beirut, and the Beqaa.
Donations may be made at www.clwr.org and at www.elcic.ca/ghda.
–ACT International
CLWR hosts CLYG volunteers
CLWR was proud to open its head office last Saturday to youth attending the Canadian Lutheran Youth Gathering (CLYG) in Winnipeg, held by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Twenty-seven youth and leaders visited CLWR, where they were introduced to different aspects of international development. The visitors helped sort and pack 180 We Care kits destined for refugee camps and communities in need, and they also processed alternative trade products for sale at the Four Corners shop. CLWR staff introduced the youth to the Hunger Watch program, an education/fundraising group activity focusing on chronic hunger. Hunger Watch information is available at www.clwr.org.
CLWR was excited to receive the guests from as far away as Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Abbotsford, Regina, as well as a strong contingent of local youth. If you or your youth group would like to volunteer at CLWR in the future, please contact us! We are always looking for willing hands.
–CLWR News Service
Special thanks to CLYG participants
In addition to volunteering at the CLWR head office last weekend, participants from the Canadian Lutheran Youth Gathering (CLYG) took up a special challenge from CLWR. Every youth group was given one of the bright yellow We Care bags and challenged to complete the kit sometime during the gathering. By Monday, CLWR had collected well over 200 kits. The compassion and excitement towards helping others across the globe was clearly evident at the gathering, with youth proudly using their We Care kits as backpacks during activities around Winnipeg. Thanks to the CLYG participants, CLWR has surpassed 5000 We Care kits and quilts since the program launched in 2005!
Youth were proactive in embracing the work of CLWR, by coming up with their own way of supporting overseas aid. CLWR staff started receiving soap from participants near the end of the conference, once they discovered that CLWR can recycle used and new soap for hospitals and refugee camps abroad. CLWR thanks all the youth, leaders and volunteers at CLYG for showing an interest and getting involved in international relief and development.
–CLWR News Service
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