Summer _Fall 2012

From the start, the RFC has nurtured and valued creativity. The Fund is Robert Meeropol’s inventive approach to turning the negative in his life into a positive — what he calls his “constructive revenge.” Awards enabling beneficiaries to participate in arts programs have been a core part of the RFC’s work.

In the 1970’s, following a screening of a documentary about the Rosenberg Case, Bob Winston, a life-long social justice advocate, introduced himself to Robert Meeropol. They didn’t know then that Bob’s leadership of the Board would last 20 years until his retirement this September

On Sunday, June 16, 2013, the RFC will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Rosenbergs’ executions with an event at The Town Hall in New York City.

The first time I spent a summer outside of New York City was 60 years ago.

I had just turned five and was not yet in school. In a way I was lucky that I was young enough to be insulated from the tumult that surrounded my parents’ case. I don’t remember my parents’ ongoing but fruitless appeals of their conviction. What I remember is playing on the floor of my grandmother Sophie Rosenberg’s house by myself with a few, small, metal toy cars or staring out the window watching the giant earthmovers build the roadbed of what would become the New York State Thruway on the other side of the Harlem River.

This spring we awarded 70 grants totaling just under $190,000. As activism grows, as police attack demonstrators, and as courts treat protestors as terrorists, more children may endure their parents’ imprisonment and turn to us for help. But with your support the RFC remains committed to seeing these families through their times of crisis.

Over the past 20 years, the RFC has received numerous legacy gifts from the estates of dozens of people. This most thoughtful help honors us. You have the power to ensure that the RFC will remain a consistent source of support for children of targeted activists for many years to come by remembering the RFC in your will.

During the two weeks surrounding this past June 19th, RFC news items were viewed by various Facebook users more than 8000 times. During that same period, dozens of our Twitter posts were retweeted, amplifying their reach many times over.