We Ask for Your Support for Our New Regional Organizer

Over the years, our region has been able to do important organizing work on a completely volunteer basis; however, we also have recognized that this model has not allowed us to reach our full potential as an influential region. This is why last October we decided to hire Ben Beachy as our Regional Organizer to grow our region and expand our organizing capacity. This now allows us to make a strategic, energetic push to support the growing movement for peace with justice in Latin America. We hope you're as excited as we are to have our new Regional Organizer lead us in a more sustained organizing effort, to help us establish a truly region-wide presence.

As more organizing in our region translates into a growing donor base, Ben will be able to work full-time on organizing local activists like you to support our Latin American counterparts in their struggle for peace and sustainable economies. Having a full-time organizer on board will allow us to take advantage of the countless opportunities for creative activism and solidarity that exist in a region that includes New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and our nation's capital.

For example, we hope to reach into new communities to recruit and cultivate more delegation leaders and expose more first-time delegates to transformative experiences as they witness the impact of U.S. military and economic policies in Latin America. We'll be able to keep these delegates more involved and focused once they return, energized to host house parties, give presentations, and participate in lobby days. We will also engage in coalition work with sister organizations to increase our visibility in communities throughout the region where we've been absent thus far. This relationship-building will link us up with like-minded individuals and help us reach new audiences interested in our work and our delegation model. All of this will help us energize more people in our region to work actively to shut down the School of the Americas, pressure lawmakers to resist free trade agreements and military expenditures, and support labor rights, peace initiatives, and sustainable economies in the Americas. As a full-time organizer, Ben will be able to hire and supervise interns and volunteers to increase our capacity in all of these areas.

We are relying on our membership to support us as we take this bold new step. Please take a moment to reflect on what Witness for Peace has meant to you over the years, and consider making a special contribution today to help grow our work in the Mid-Atlantic. We're confident that having a full-time organizer on board will re-energize and connect all of us in our organizing activities and solidarity with our partners in Central and South America.

If you are not in a position to contribute financially at this time, please consider giving of your time and talent to support our new Regional Organizer! To expand our reach into new communities of activists and potential activists, Ben will rely on State Coordinators and City Coordinators, who will help him identify new partners for exciting, vibrant activism, recruit and cultivate delegation leaders and members, and organize local and regional meetings and events. Or, if you don't have the time to serve as a State or City Coordinator, but would like to coordinate one event, please let us know! To volunteer, please contact Ben Beachy at (202) 403-1752, or at wfpma@witnessforpeace.org.

Please make checks payable to "Witness for Peace-MidAtlantic" and send to Andy Mills, 94 Harlow Circle, Lower Gwynedd, PA 19002. If you wish to make a tax-deductible donation, make your check out to "Witness for Peace."

Our sincere gratitude in advance for your generous contribution! We cannot do this without your help!