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With the Buddha’s statements that “hunger is the worst kind of illness” and “the gift of food is the gift of life” as a starting point, Buddhist Global Relief’s (BGR) mission is to combat chronic hunger and malnutrition around the world. BGR’s programs are as diverse as the locations they work in because they are…

By Ed Brayton

Foundation Beyond Belief is proud to be featuring T’ruah as our Challenge the Gap beneficiary during the second quarter of 2013. T’ruah was founded in 2002 as Rabbis for Human Rights – North America, a sister organization to an Israeli group of the same name. In January of this year, they officially split off from RHR but said that the two organizations “remain close allies.”

The name of the organization is the name of “one of the blasts of the shofar (ram’s horn),” which sounds to announce the Year of Jubilee, on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and to note other major events in Jewish history.

“We are Americans and Canadians with deep connections to Israel, and a commitment to making all three of the countries we love the most just, peaceful, and righteous places possible,” the group’s mission statement says.
T’ruah’s work for human rights includes a campaign to combat human trafficking in the produce industry in Florida. Working with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), they convinced McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and nine other companies to only purchase tomatoes from suppliers that have strong policies to protect labor rights and prevent human trafficking in those who work the fields.

The organization has also worked inside Israel to fight against the placement of Jewish settlements that displace Palestinian families. They have worked to prevent the eviction of Palestinian families from East Jerusalem, which they argue is “the spiritual home of the Jewish people and a holy city for Christians and Muslims as well.”

T’ruah has also launched a campaign for Bedouin rights, working again to prevent the expulsion of thousands of Bedouins and to secure government services to several Bedouin villages in the Negev region of Israel. This has been a longstanding problem in that country, and T’ruah believes that the human rights of Bedouin tribes must be respected.

Because of their strong track record of supporting human rights and building bridges between Jews and Muslims both in North America and in Israel, along with many other actions that support and promote humanist principles, FBB will be giving T’ruah a grant for the second quarter of 2013. With more than 80% of their funds going directly to program activities, we are certain that grant will be put to good use.

Fourth-quarter 2011 human rights beneficiary Polaris Project gave us this report about how they are using the funds contributed by members of Foundation Beyond Belief. Members donated $4,585 to Polaris Project last quarter.

Polaris Project is very grateful to participate in the Foundation Beyond Belief. With your generous support we continued our mission to combat human trafficking and to strengthen the anti-trafficking movement through a comprehensive approach. When Polaris Project was founded in 2002, we envisioned a world where everyday citizens could take action to fight human trafficking. It is people like the members of Foundation Beyond Belief who make the dream of the modern-day Underground Railroad a reality by providing freedom and hope to thousands of people trapped in modern-day slavery.

Current peace beneficiary War Child recently shared this story about their partnership with Mme. Sango Batendji (“Mama Sango”) and Fédération pour les Femmes de Développement (FFD) to protect women and children from sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

FFD operates five safe houses for victims of sexual violence and manages a safe haven for women who have lost hope. To understand why Mama Sango’s efforts are so significant is to understand the context in which Congolese women live. Sexual abuse, kidnappings, sexual slavery and forced marriages are common crimes committed against women and girls. Despite the shocking statistics, prosecutions are rare and impunity for crimes is pervasive. In order to address these issues, War Child is working to promote and protect women and children’s rights, and we are proud to now be working with Mama Sango to achieve this.

Click here to read the whole story.

Thanks to our 510 contributing members, the second quarter of 2010 ended with over $22,500 raised for our second slate of beneficiaries — nearly double the amount raised in the first quarter. We are now tallying the totals for each charity and will announce final numbers next week.

Starting this quarter, we will also bring you specific reports of how our donations are being spent by our featured charities to alleviate suffering and to improve this life and this world.

The third quarter begins with a dynamic new slate of featured organizations, including Uganda Humanist Schools Trust, an IHEU initiative providing secular schooling in a country riven by decades of religiously-fueled conflict. “We are determined to protect students from any form of indoctrination,” says Deo Ssekitooleko, founder of the Humanist Academy. “Instead they will be exposed to various world views. They will be encouraged to think freely, to be rational and skeptical, to value and respect humanity and be tolerant towards others.” 

By Sikivu Hutchinson
Editor of blackfemlens.org

The L.A. Times news item was buried at the bottom of the page in the bloodlessly tiny print reserved for marginalia. A 7-year-old black girl named Aiyanna Jones had been murdered in her sleep by the Detroit police after a military-style raid on her home. In the wake of the shooting, neighbors and loved ones placed stuffed animals in front of the house in memoriam. Rows of stuffed animals stared out from Associated Press photographs of the crime scene in dark-eyed innocence. In black communities across the nation, Aiyanna’s death elicited a firestorm of outrage from activists critical of police misconduct and excessive force. Recalling New York, Los Angeles, Oakland, and scores of other cities where black lives have been cut down by trigger-happy police officers, many condemned the murder as yet another instance of law enforcement’s criminal devaluation of black lives and “inner city” communities.