Fwd: Second Response -- for Jeffrey
Lesley, Please deliver this to Jeffrey.
Dear Jeffrey,
I know you have a lot on your plate while you continue with your philanthropic work; in a significantly smaller way, I remain similarly busy.
This past June, Second Response's trauma team traveled to Nepal after the earthquakes to help thousands of children through our signature PLAYshops, which over time mitigate the long term effects of post-traumatic stress through productive play. After a long day of PLAYshops at an orphanage near Kathmandu, the orphanage's director Suresh climbed on the roof to observe the children from afar. Suresh pointed out one girl, indicating she hadn't smiled since the earthquake; she was laughing and splashing in the rainwater cascading off the roof, as Suresh said to our clinical director, "What you are doing is invaluable emotional medicine — thank you so much for coming here."
Two weeks ago, I returned from Croatia where I spent time training Red Cross workers in the refugee camp in Opacovac near the Hungarian border. It was incredibly challenging -- perhaps the hardest things I've done since launching Second Response ten years ago — but I know we helped.
Your generous $2,000 donation last year was part of the reason we were able to deliver care in Nepal and help to make it possible for us to train hundreds in the US and abroad in our protocols. Our seven-member team spent almost two months on the ground in Nepal with teachers and parents in order to build local capacity. Unfortunately, over the past 2 decades there has been an 80% increase in climate-related disasters and more children are likely to experience traumatic events with increasing frequency. Man-made disasters such as wars and shootings are also threatening the mental health and vitality of millions of children. We need to expand our reach exponentially to help to reduce the instances of PTSD in many more children touched by disaster. We can only do this with your continued support.
As well as dispatching teams after disasters strike, Second Response continues to pre-emptively train first responders, educators, parents, and caregivers in our PLAYshop methodology, building capacity in our communities to deal with the impact of post-traumatic stress on children before the next event. Just this month we will present trainings for twenty-five therapists at the Charlotte Hungerford Hospital Center for Youth and Families Outpatient Treatment Services and a few days later for first responders and educators at Northwestern Connecticut Community College who are part of the local Community Emergency Response Team. The following week, we'll give another PLAYshop training at Western Connecticut State University for a crisis team of volunteer helping professionals who work in 12 school districts. The group is comprised of several professors as well as school counselors, psychologists, and social workers from the Danbury area. (Sandy Hook is 2 miles away.) All of these providers are confirmation of the significant impact we make in our own backyard.
In 2016 we will conduct extensive training in PLAYshop protocols for disaster relief agencies, government health agencies, and schools, preparing them to organize and deliver effective PLAYshops as a standard component of their disaster response protocol. To achieve 18-20 training programs in 2016 and retain reserves for disaster relief we are embarking on a $510,000 fundraising campaign.
I am extremely grateful for your partnership in sharing our vision to help children around the world who face traumatic events, and now we need your continued support to greatly expand our reach through training others. I am indefatigable in my effort to help these kids and feel unabashed in asking you for a $50,000 gift this year to jump-start our campaign. For the record, I have never paid myself one cent for the work I've done here over the past decade. If you're open to discussing our progress or learning more, I'd welcome an opportunity to talk again. We've come a long way and are truly making a difference.
Warm regards,
William
"We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars." Oscar Wilde
Sent from my iPhone