10/23/2000: REQUEST for ASSISTANCE
Sent Via the Internet
Greetings Friends,
Since I last asked for support via e-mail on June 22, CUADP has had
a number of successes, due in large part to the "checkbook
activism" of people like you!
* We coordinated the 7th Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the
Death Penalty at the U.S. Supreme Court. This was a great
success, and the large number of people who stopped to sign the
petitions demonstrated that our issue has entered the mainstream and
is cause for concern by many people! Images from the vigil
were featured in profiles of musician Steve Earle which aired in
September on CBS Sunday Morning and just last Friday night on ABC's
Nightline! For background on this annual event, visit <http://www.abolition.org>.
* Working with Pennsylvania Abolitionists, CUADP was instrumental in
the success of anti-death penalty activities at the National
Governor's Association meetings in State College, PA in early
July. For the full story and photos, have a look at <http://www.cuadp.org/natgovassocmeet.html>.
* CUADP was the ONLY national (exclusively) abolitionist
organization to help implement the actions at the Republican
National Convention. Pictures will be up soon at <http://www.cuadp.org/action.html>
* We were instrumental in the success of the Pennsylvania Journey of
Hope ...From Violence to Healing, held in August. Visit <http://www.cuadp.org/action.html>
and Scroll down for photos.
* In our Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty hat, we
worked with Amnesty International's Southern Regional Office to
produce their annual Death Penalty Institute, which brought together
activists from across the state to talk strategy and tactics, and to
take a little action. See below for more on plans for Florida,
and to see photos and reports on our activities in Florida, visit
<http://www.fadp.org/action.html>.
ALL THAT, while keeping a few ongoing projects alive, including:
* See <http://www.cuadp.org/bush.html>
for what is still one of the most comprehensive reviews of G.W.
Bush's DP background, ALONG WITH resources for local activists to
take action when Bush comes to town! (Also makes a very funny
Halloween outfit.)
* Recently revamped, the most comprehensive calendar of upcoming
death penalty related events is on the CUADP page at <http://www.cuadp.org/upevents.html>.
* CUADP's free site where prisoners who claim innocence may post
their appeal <http://www.cuadp.org/pot.html>
has become a significant source for media representatives looking
for stories.
* AbolitionWear(tm) has put into circulation more than 35,000
buttons, bumper stickers and t-shirts with the abolitionist
message. Take a look at the way the students at Eastern
Mennonite University are using AbolitionWear! Visit <http://www.cuadp.org/abolitionwear.html>.
* CUADPUpdate, an electronic newsletter distributed several times a
month brings timely and not-always-heard news to a growing list
which now includes almost 2,200 abolitionists!
AND IN THE COMING WEEKS....
* CUADP is working with Indiana and national activists to produce an
80-mile, "March to STOP Executions," leading up to the
first federal execution under current laws (David Paul
Hammer/November 15, 2000). We've established a web page
linking off of <http://www.abolition.org>,
we've helped raise several thousand dollars so far, and we'll be on
the ground in Indiana for the week prior to the killing. More
on that soon.
* While we are not a principle funding organization for the event,
(how could we be?), from the time it was conceptualized, CUADP has
been involved in the planning and production of the upcoming
"Committing to Conscience" conference, set to take place
in San Francisco November 16-19. For more information about
this first ever event of this sort, please visit <http://www.ncadp.org/ctc.html>.
* CUADP continues to assist in the development of Floridians for
Alternatives to the Death Penalty, with plans to launch a moratorium
campaign and a series of regional training weekends throughout the
state in the first months of 2001. To learn more about this,
contact FADP via e-mail at <fadp@fadp.org>.
* CUADP will continue to grow what has become a very useful and
exciting web page. In particular, we plan to add a number of
activist tools and "how to" pages so that everyone can
more easily get involved and take effective action! Check out
<http://www.cuadp.org>, and
for a smile, click on the dog at top-right.
WE NEED YOUR HELP:
Like many non profits, CUADP operates on a shoestring budget.
Unlike most, we pay no salaries and offer no benefits. All of
the money raised goes to activism. We are all
volunteers. Also, because we are not a 501c3, donors can't
"write-off" contributions to our efforts. Therefore,
your support is especially vital if CUADP is to continue to help our
movement grow and be effective. Please send a special gift at
this time, and ask people you know to support CUADP as well.
It can be as simple as copying this message for a friend, clergy
person or relative, with a note saying, "I support CUADP.
Will you?" Please give it a try!
It is true, we have some debt. Sometimes our vendors have to
wait a while to get paid. With a full agenda this Fall &
Winter, we really need YOUR help to stay on track.
If everyone reading this e-mail stuck a $5 bill in an envelope and
mailed it to us, that would be a huge boost. If everyone
reading this sent as large a contribution as they can, be it $5,
$500, $5,000 or even more, CUADP would be able to get on better
footing, which would make our efforts to fight the death penalty
*lethal*. (Pun intended!) Please stretch your wallet for
solid abolitionist work by sending as much as you can to CUADP
today. Click Here to make a contribution.
Yours in the Struggle,
--abe
Abraham J. Bonowitz
Director, CUADP
PS: We need your help now, but please also support your local and
state abolitionist organization(s) and the National Coalition to
Abolish the Death Penalty.
Click Here to
make a contribution to CUADP
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