Winter_Spring_09

Last August, the RFC held its sixth Gathering at a progressive summer camp in rural western Massachusetts. 41 parents and their school-aged children from across the country joined three peer leaders (all of whom are former RFC beneficiaries), RFC Board, Staff, and workshop leaders for the four-day, three-night Family Gathering. The Gathering offered RFC beneficiary families an array of cultural workshops and recreational and social activities. The event was a powerful community builder for participants who have had similar experiences as a result of the activist parents’ work for social justice.

This fall the RFC made 79 grants totaling $198,487; 2 are new awards and 77 are renewals. As we celebrate the end of the most repressive era since McCarthyism, we recognize the amazing generosity of our supporters, which allowed us to award over $1.5 million during just the last four years. While we hope the new administration ends policies targeting activists, we know it will be a long road back to respecting human rights at home and abroad. Regardless of whether improvements occur, the Board remains committed to supporting these individuals and their families.

Recurring gifts benefit the RFC by providing us a reliable source of support. They also reduce the amount of mail we send you (which is good for the environment and lowers our mailing costs). And if you choose to make your ongoing donation online, you save us additional time and money in processing costs so your gift goes even further!

The RFC has taken major steps to enhance our online technology to better serve our supporters, beneficiaries, and other members of our community. Along with this redesigned website, we are moving forward with plans to offer email versions of RFC material that previously was only available by surface mail.

(Note: We DO NOT plan to eliminate our print material, but rather, to provide electronic versions of communications to those supporters who request them.)

Now that you're here, you can:

I take great satisfaction that the RFC’s granting has grown from $802.50 in 1991 to $400,000 annually from 2006-2008. We have maintained or increased our granting budget in every one of our 19 years. Unfortunately, without extraordinary aid, that remarkable streak will end in 2009.