Dear friends of No More Deaths,
We adopted a $300,000 budget for the year that started on July 1, 2015 and ends on June 30, 2016. We’ve never had a budget this large, nor have we ever taken on so much work. We need your help more than ever.
After each working group submitted their budget estimates, we wrestled with the question of our capacity to make it happen. No one wanted to make cuts because we know the death rates of those crossing through southern Arizona are higher than ever. Each dollar goes toward direct-aid work that is vital to our mission of ending death and suffering in the borderlands.
Remembering that we are an all-volunteer, faith-based movement, we took a deep breath and committed to raising the money. We created a “fundraising action working group” that meets regularly to brainstorm and implement ideas for funding our work. We welcome ideas and contacts you could share with us.
In alliance with Derechos Humanos, we formalized an expanded search-and-rescue team to respond to emergency calls received by the Missing Migrant Project hot line. We are building capacity to respond as quickly as possible with dedicated vehicles, equipment and volunteers on call.
On monthly trips to the migrant center in Altar, Sonora—one of the major staging grounds for those crossing our area—we bring harm reduction kits, food, and clothing. Our commitment to supporting the center and its efforts to relieve the suffering of migrants has deepened.
Each time we put together another newsletter, we ask you—people of conscience across the country and globe—to renew your partnership with us. We need your help to support our largest budget and most wide-ranging efforts to date.
The crisis in the borderlands plays out in the remote desert, but it is a crisis of national policy and an international humanitarian disaster. On behalf of our migrant brothers and sisters, thank you for your heartfelt commitment to creating a more just and loving world.
In solidarity,
The No More Deaths Community
