August 30. 2006
Dear Friends of the Lebanese People,

 
As nearly a million displaced Lebanese return home, Mercy Corps remains committed to helping families and communities recover from the violence that not only shook their lives but also destroyed 35,000 homes and businesses, 400 miles of roadway and about 150 bridges and interchanges.  We continue to reach out to you and others in the Arab-American community to ask for your support.  An updated program document is attached for your information.  

Through the generous support of donors, Mercy Corps was able to speed much-needed relief to more than 40,000 people during the conflict, and to transition quickly to helping Lebanese communities rebuild their homes and economies in pursuit of a peaceful future.

The needs of war-affected communities remain high. Families whose homes were destroyed need shelter. Roads and bridges need to be rebuilt. Schools must be repaired before they can reopen.

Mercy Corps is reaching out to Lebanese who are returning to two areas of southern Lebanon damaged by the 34-day conflict - Nabatiye and Marjayoun - and supporting vulnerable families in a hard-hit Beirut suburb in the Chouf Mountains. We've already put people back to work clearing debris - providing valuable income to families - and we continue to deliver critical relief items to families in need.

Our work in Lebanon will take years, not months. We remain committed to helping the people of the Middle East in their quest for a just and lasting peace.
 
Mercy Corps, a US non-governmental/non-profit based in Portland, Oregon, has been helping the people of Lebanon since the 1980s, helping revitalize communities that suffered in the civil war.  Today we are one of the few international organizations on the ground providing assistance.
 
How can you help?  You can by simply sharing this letter with your friends and contacts.  Or if you would like, you can host a fundraising event.  Or if you would like you can collect checks on behalf of your members and send them on to us to send on to Lebanon.  I’ve also attached an update on our work that you can post on a website or print out and distribute.  Or you can have a Mercy Corps link on your website:  http://www.mercycorps.org/getinvolved/linktous/1367  
 
For more information please visit our website www.mercycorps.org, or contact me at 503.796.6800, ext 405 or by email at mhedges@mercycorpsfield.org  
 
Thank you for whatever you can do to help us bring help and hope to the people of Lebanon.
With sincere appreciation,
Minda Hedges
Community Relations Officer
 
To Make a Gift
Lebanon Crisis Fund:
 
Mercy Corps
Attn. Minda Hedges
3015 SW First Avenue
Portland, OR  97201
 
1-800-852-2100
www.mercycorps.org
 
Mercy Corps works amid disasters, conflicts, chronic poverty and instability to unleash the potential of people who can win against impossible odds. Since 1979, Mercy Corps has provided $1 billion in assistance to people in 82 nations. Supported by headquarters offices in North America, Europe, and Asia, the agency's unified global programs employ 3,200 staff worldwide and reach nearly 10 million people in more than 40 countries. Over the last five years, more than 90 percent of the agency's resources have been allocated directly to programs that help people in need. For more information, visit www.mercycorps.org.