I've invited more contributors to the blog, so it remains current and a team effort. The Coalition leadership has met twice in the past month and is pursuing the following priorities: preparing postcards directed at the newly seated Congress, seeking time for presentations at meetings/services/clergy groups around Detroit (e.g. describing the crisis, showing a PowerPoint, instructing people on how to take action, etc.), holding fundraising/awareness-raising events, and expanding the Coalition to include a wider range of interfaith participation.

Most importantly, the last two meetings confirmed that Darfur remains a collective priority -- the Coalition remains committed to its mission. Coalition activists also resolved to keep this blog filled with current information on local efforts and links to information. We need more people visiting here by including the link in our organization websites and newsletters, and making sure that it's worth visiting by adding relevant, succinct posts.

For those of you who don't know, the Detroit2Darfur Coalition was convened in the winter of 2006. We coordinated a sequence of events: a presentation by Matthew Emry of the American Jewish World Service, a battle-of-the-bands fundraiser by students at the Frankel Jewish Academy, a news conference at the Holocaust Memorial Center, participation in the Million Voices for Darfur postcard campaign, inclusion of Darfur in the Soul Seder, the launch of this blog, a delegation of two busses at the Rally Against Genocide in Washington D.C., and several lobbying delegations.

The next Detroit2Darfur Coalition meeting will be on Wednesday, January 10th at 2:00 pm, at the Max M. Fisher Building in Bloomfield Hills. Please contact me if you would like to attend: cherrin@jfmd.org.