Dear friend,

I hope you doing well! Today I'm writing to you about a serious and important project I'm working on and I'd like to ask for your help.

More people have died in the war going on in the Democratic Republic of Congo since World War II. Four million people have lost their lives and almost half of them were children under five. I learned about this mind numbing horror recently, and rather than try to put it out of my mind, I decided it was time to do something. The world can no longer stand aside and let the Congo bleed. 

I found out about a woman in Portland, Oregon who did a solo 30 mile run in 2005 to raise money to help support women and their families in the Congo through Women for Women International. The sponsorship program provides women with income-generating job skills, rights awareness, emotional support, and financial assistance. These women have been through the worst violence you can imagine. The support from Women for Women is a simple but powerful way to help. 

So, I've decided to do the run this year too! There is a group here who are organizing a Run For Congo Women. It will take place on [date] in [location].

I plan to {run / walk} {5 }miles and my goal is to raise enough money to sponsor one woman ($27 per month) per mile run. I'd love it if you were involved. 

You can get involved in several ways:

- Join me for all or part of the [my city] run: you can register to run at www.runforcongowomen.com 
- Support my run by pledging to sponsor a woman for a year ($354) through www.womenforwomen.org or pledging a different amount to support WFW program activities
- There are more ways to get involved on the www.runforcongowomen.com website

This is a case where simple efforts by us can have a huge impact for women in the Congo and literally save children's lives. Let me know if you'd like to get involved or support me! And pass on this email to anyone and everyone you think might be interested. 

You can check out these websites for more info:

 http://www.runforcongowomen.com
 http://www.womenforwomen.org 

I hope to hear from you soon that you'd like to make a pledge of support for this event. "Now that you know, you can't pretend you didn't hear it", Oprah Winfrey on her program about the situation for women in the Congo. 

Take care,
Jane.