Kem Opperman-Torres (@SraTorres)’s November 7 tweet shows the progress of St. Martins’s fund-raising. “So proud of @STMMiddle for raising $1,273.00 for @FOLiberia for #STMDay! Service is central in The Middle. ” https://twitter.com/SraTorres/status/530845086167617536
Dear Members of the Friends of Liberia, the Liberian Studies Association, the Liberian diaspora and all others interested in Liberia and its well- being,
Thanks to your incredible generosity, and three ambitious fundraising events, we have passed our Ebola Relief Goal of $100,000. We think that St. Martin’s Episcopal School in Metairie, LA, put us over the top with their $3,600.05 donation. That extra nickel tells you something about its St. Martin’s Day charity work.
Each year the student body chooses an organization for which to raise funds. Earlier this year, thanks in part to faculty member and former Peace Corps volunteer Garrett Mason’s Liberia stories, a Liberian faculty member and several Liberian students, they chose FOL. So from Pre-K to 12th grade, students conducted bake sales, penny drives and other activities to raise funds for FOL’s work, particularly on Ebola Relief.
FOL received the check in late January, just as the news came of fresh outbreaks of Ebola in hard-hit Lofa and Margibi counties. Fortunately, there are many treatment centers now to isolate the cases and keep the disease from spreading.
School opening, originally slated for Feb. 1, has been pushed back to mid-February. Estimates that Liberia would reach its goal of zero cases by the end of February have been pushed back as well. Even when the last case is reported, it will be 22 days, two quarantine cycles, until Liberia will be considered Ebola free.
After distributing $60,000 to seven organizations dealing directly with Ebola treatment and prevention, FOL is considering the social fallout from this prolonged epidemic in determining where to apply the balance of the funds raised. A special committee has made recommendations to partner with community-based non-governmental organizations on projects relating to health, psycho-social support, and entrepreneurship during Liberia’s reemergence from the shadow of Ebola.
Sincerely,
Pat Reilly,
Development Committee Chair