Saturday March 16 we had a fund raiser in Seattle for the Syrian refugees with an auction. About 100 people showed up to the event that lasted from 6pm to 9:30pm. Ian Moncaster, ex CEO of the World Affairs Council was the MC, Dr, Eiad Sayed, flew in from Ohio to be our keynote speaker, he had recently been with a mission of doctors in Jordan in February and also in December visiting and treating patients in the camps and in the clinics and where ever we found them. Sometimes apartments were used as clinics so you would have doctors seeing patients in the hallways, in the kitchen and in any place that there was room. Very make shift areas but it worked and the doctors were great about this and they just pulled out their instruments and started asking questions to see where the pain was where they were hurt , etc.
We also had Nader Kabbani playing classical Arabic music on the piano for the listening pleasure of the audience.
We had a lot of auction items- people were so generous in giving us things to auction off from meals at different restaurants in town, to having your hair done, massages, paintings, tablecloths from Syria and so much more. We ended up making about $50,000 which is going to be used in Jordan and inside of Syria for the women’sand children’s clinic and also for an orphanage. Some of the funds have been sent overseas and the other funds I will take with me when I go tomorrow to Jordan and meet a group of 20 doctors that are joining our mission with NAAMA, National Arab American Medical Association. These are Palestinian, Iraqi, Syrian and American doctors that are volunteering their time to come and help.
I really want to thank all the volunteers and also the people that attended and the people that donated but were not able to attend our function – we will be having more. The funds will help a lot of people that need it.
We also have another container of medical supplies that is going out next week. Wheelchairs, walkers, canes, beds and so much more that have also been donated by medical supply houses and individuals. I think to date we have about 50 wheelchairs and no idea of the number of other items in the warehouse. We want to thank Emarat Shipping with all their help in getting the goods into Jordan and the first three containers that were sent to Turkey. Great company to work with and very nice people that understand the situation and do whatever they can to help.
We are also doing a fund raiser in Amman, Jordan at an art gallery on the 26th of March so wish us luck with that.
Please remember anything that you can spare each month to help the families of Syria would be appreciated. Please pass this on to others that you know. The word needs to go out that the situation is not ending and things are getting worse- we heard today that chemical weapons were used in areas of Aleppo. I have family there and have not been able to reach them for the last couple of days. I will go with the saying that bad news travels fast since I have not heard anything that means that they are fine.
Thank you all again for your contributions and your help. But please keep digging deeper into those pockets and I am sure some change will come up, or maybe shake the cushions of your sofa.
Rita
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