330 East Roosevelt Road, Suite G5, Lombard, IL 60148 - Ph.: 630.629.7490 ? Fax: 630.629.7492 PRESS RELEASE
Chicago - Tuesday, August 24, 2004
CIOGC REPRESENTATIVE RETURNS FROM FACTFINDING TRIP TO DARFUR, SUDAN
CIOGC CO-HOSTS FUNDRAISING DINNER FOR
SUFFERING REFUGEES
A current board member and
former chairman of the The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago
(CIOGC), Dr. Talal Sunbulli, has recently returned from a fact-finding mission
in Sudan lead
by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).
Dr. Sunbulli visited two refugee camps in Darfur,
finding a shortage of food, little or no medical facilities and most refugees
living with only makeshift shelter. This
crisis is compounded by the onset of the rainy season, making transport of
humanitarian resources very difficult and areas where refugees have clustered
becoming almost inaccessible.
During his trip to Sudan
with the ISNA delegation, Dr. Sunbulli also met with representatives of the
Sudanese government, the rebel forces, the United Nations Special Envoy to Sudan
and the United States
Charge d’Affaires for the country.
Predictions of the US Agency for International Development and the UN
High Commission for Refugees indicate over 300,000 refugees may die before the
end of the year, a number equivalent to the population of Tampa,
Florida.
Expressing deep concern about
this crisis, Council Chairman Kareem Irfan stated: “The CIOGC and Chicago
Muslims are distressed at the unfolding human tragedy in Darfur and the severe
plight of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, including women and
children, who have been assaulted, lost their homes and property, and brutally thrown
out of their villages as part of a pogrom apparently targeting ethnic, non-Arab
Sudanese. It is an urgent moral imperative of the U.S.
and the international community to work with the Sudanese authorities to halt
this human tragedy, guarantee the security and fundamental human rights of all
Sudanese, and cover the immediate needs of displaced refugees.”
The CIOGC, an umbrella
organization serving over 400,000 Muslims throughout Chicagoland, urges members
of all faiths to attend a fundraising dinner for the victims of the refugee
crisis in Darfur, Sudan. The dinner, co-hosted by Islamic Relief, will
be held on Sunday, September 19,
2004 at 6:00 p.m.
at the Albanian Islamic Center, 5825 St. Charles
Road, Berkeley, Illinois. Islamic Relief, the only Muslim charity with
camps in Darfur, is caring for 40,000 refugees and
urgently needs funds to keep providing for their needs in this crisis.
Concerned Americans can aid in
relief efforts of these innocent families in two ways:
1)
Attend the Darfur
Relief Fundraising Dinner on September
19, 2004 at 6:00 p.m. at
the Albanian Islamic Center, 5825 St. Charles Road,
Berkeley, Illinois. Tickets are $20.00 for adults and $15.00 for
students. Tickets can be purchased by
calling the CIOGC at 630-629-7490 or at the door of the event.
2) Donate by writing a check made
payable to “CIOGC”
and writing “Darfur Relief Fund” in the memo portion of the check. Checks can be mailed to: CIOGC, 330 E. Roosevelt Road,
Suite G5, Lombard, IL 60148. Secure on-line donations
may also be made conveniently at our website: www.CIOGC.org All donations are tax-deductible.
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