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New Jersey Jewish News Story
Area high school students raise $15,000 for Darfur
by Elaine Durbach
NJJN Bureau Chief/Central
Three high school students who founded an organization to benefit victims of genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan have presented a prominent disaster relief group with a $15,000 check.
The three friends — Arielle Wisotsky, a student at Ridge High School in Basking Ridge, and Eric and David Messinger, students at Millburn High School — raised the funds to help pay for food, medicine, and shelter for the victims of the ongoing genocide taking place in Darfur.
The students, representing their organization, Help Darfur Now, Inc., presented the check to the international relief group Doctors Without Borders Monday, Feb. 13, at the organization’s Manhattan offices. Alyssa Herman, the group’s director of development, said in a news release announcing the gift, “It is always great to see high school students take on an issue of this importance. Their grassroots support will enable us to help the victims in Darfur who so desperately need it.”
David, Eric, and Arielle (read Arielle's thoughts...) sent out more than 3,000 fund-raising letters to residents of Basking Ridge and neighboring towns.
“People have been great about responding to our letters,” Arielle said. “Our initial goal was to raise $5,000 for the victims of the genocide; we are really happy that we have been able to surpass that goal. We plan to keep on going with the fund-raising. The situation in Darfur is getting worse. More than 500 people die over there every day as a result of the violence.”
The government-sponsored militia known as the Janjaweed has been attacking the tribal black farmers in the region over the past few years. In the latest of a series of press releases the trio of high school students have issued, they outline what has been happening: “Helicopters drop bombs, the people are fired at, women are raped, and children are tortured. The ones who survive flee to refugee camps where the Janjaweed often attack and burn down their makeshift homes and murder the refugees.”
On the day of the gift presentation, the students also met with Rep. Donald Payne (D-Dist. 10), the ranking Democrat on the House’s Committee on International Affairs and a leader in the local effort to raise awareness on the Darfur issue. He commended them on their accomplishments and signed on as an official endorser of Help Darfur Now. The students plan to work with him further on the issue.
“Unfortunately, this important issue gets very little press and there are still many people out there who are unaware of the atrocities taking place in Darfur,” Eric said.
The trio also met with Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-Dist. 11) on Jan. 4 to discuss pending legislation on Darfur.
To increase the visibility of the crisis, the students have expanded their organization to include satellite chapters. “We have been approached by high schools and middle schools in New Jersey as well as in New York City,” David said. “We now have six chapters, with more planning to sign on. Our hope is to bring students into Help Darfur Now from many states across the United States.”
The students are bringing Help Darfur Now into their own schools by setting up after-school clubs. They have already set up executive boards for each school and have met to plan fund-raising and awareness-raising activities. In addition, Dr. Paul Winkler, executive director of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, has expressed his support for Help Darfur Now, and will be sending information about the group in a packet going to every principal in the state.
On March 26, Arielle, David, and Eric will receive the Profiles in Courage award from Temple Sinai in Summit. The trio will offer a presentation for high school students at the temple in conjunction with a fund-raising drive that its own students will be conducting on behalf of Darfur victims.
Contributions to Help Darfur Now, an incorporated nonprofit, can be sent to PO Box 5062, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920, or through the group’s Web site at www.helpdarfurnow.org.
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