Benefit dinner to raise funds for Kurdish Red Crescent

Press Release from Firestorm Co-op:

Benefit dinner to raise funds for Kurdish Red Crescent

Community responds to international appeal for humanitarian aid in Kobanê

Asheville, NC – On Wednesday, November 5th, community members will host a benefit dinner at The Weinhaus. The fundraising event will feature a catered vegetarian meal with door prizes donated by local businesses, live music with Asheville funk-blues band Muscadine and a cash bar. All ticket proceeds will support the Kurdish Red Crescent, a twenty-one year old regional affiliate of the respected International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

WHAT: Emergency Aid for Rojava benefit dinner
WHEN: Wednesday, November 5th 2014, 6:30pm to 8:30pm
WHERE: The Weinhaus, 86 Patton Avenue, Asheville, NC

TICKETS: $20 to $60 per person (sliding scale). Tickets are available in advance at The Weinhaus or at the door on the night of the fundraiser, but seating is limited.

Since mid-September, Rojava (aka Western Kurdistan), an autonomous and democratic region in Northern Syria, has endured an intensified assault by Islamic State (ISIS) militants. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, members of Rojava’s People’s Protection Units have succeed in driving Islamic State fighters from the city of Kobanê. Nevertheless a desperate need for humanitarian assistance, including medical and surgical supplies, remains for those who live under the threat of enslavement and genocide. On September 25th, the Kurdish Red Crescent, which has itself been targeted by Islamic State, issued an emergency appeal for donations to help refugees from Kobanê and those still living in the region’s sixty villages. Funds collected will purchase food, clothing and medicine.

“Responding to this international appeal for humanitarian aid in Kobanê is a unique opportunity,” states benefit organizer Libertie Valance, “because Kurdistan’s Movement of the Democratic Society’s program for women’s liberation, environmental sustainability and ethnic pluralism could not be in greater contrast to the crude oil-fueled doctrine of religious extremism, political authoritarianism and sexual violence of the Islamic State. We’re looking at a microcosm for the issues facing our planet.”

The Kurdish Red Crescent (Heyva Sor A Kurdistanê) was founded in 1993 in Bochum, Germany. Since then the charity, with 120 volunteers, has grown to become a beacon of hope for people in crisis. The Kurdish Red Crescent rushes to the aid of vulnerable people under all conditions and is the only such Kurdish aid organization. Additionally, it has endeavored to help, aid and reach people with its magazine The Sun of Kurdistan (Roja Kurdîstanê).

An Emergency Aid for Rojava event page can be found at http://bit.ly/aid4rojava. For more information on the Kurdish Red Crescent, see http://heyvasor.com. For English language news from Kurdistan, see http://en.firatajans.com.