December 22, 2010
Dear Friends:
As we approach the end of the year, I write to invite your continued support for URI’s work for peace, justice and healing in communities all over the world. Please consider making a donation today.
This has been a landmark year for URI. We celebrated our 10th anniversary in June of this year, and months later our membership reached 500 Cooperation Circles (CCs). We are active today in 78 countries, including places like Somalia, Iraq, Uganda and urban Europe, places where the need for interfaith understanding is greater than ever before.
And we have seen an unprecedented level of collaboration among our members—CCs in India working to end female infanticide; CCs in the Philippines and Uganda organizing for clean elections; CCs in the Middle East providing aid to refugees and more—using coordinated strategies to increase their power to make change.
URI's growth this year has come in the midst of enormous global upheaval. From the continued economic downturn that is increasing poverty around the world to the flooding in Pakistan that displaced an unprecedented 20 million people and has exacerbated religious and political tensions there, the need for URI and its Cooperation Circles is only increasing.
We at URI, from our global staff in San Francisco to our regional coordinators, trustees and members around the globe, are so grateful for the dedication and generosity of our donors, whose support has helped us continue our critical work through these challenging times.
As we head into the New Year, we are turning to you once again, asking you to renew your commitment to URI or become a new donor, and be a part of a fast-growing movement for interfaith peace and cooperation across the globe.
In gratitude, and with best wishes for your health and happiness in the New Year,
Charles Gibbs, Executive Director
on behalf of The URI Community
