Welcome to Update - June 2022
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Working towards a truly just,
healthy and peaceful world.
  • Ukrainians with disabilities among the most affected by war
  • View our Legacy Giving webinar video
  • PWRDF Youth Council produces OCIC Tapestry 2030 podcast episode
  • June online events
Voices of Hope can be shared in your parish as a bulletin insert, read as an announcement, or included in an e-blast. This month read about PWRDF's support for people in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.
NEWS
Outpouring from donors for Ukraine fuels PWRDF’s wide-ranging relief responses
May 24 marked the three-month anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It’s not the sort of milestone one likes to note, yet we must. Since February 24, more than 8 million Ukrainians – women, children and elderly – have been forced to leave their homes and find safety within Ukraine, and 6.5 million have left the country, some living in crowded refugee camps or in cities, vulnerable to other stressors. PWRDF has launched several responses.
PWRDF strengthens support to ACT Ukraine appeal, with help from MCIC
PWRDF will allocate another $70,000 to Hungarian Interchurch Aid’s ACT Alliance appeal supporting Ukrainians on both sides of the Ukrainian/Hungarian border. Through the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation, PWRDF will leverage $20,000 of donations received for Ukraine relief with a 2.5 to 1 match, to receive $50,000 from MCIC, for a total of $70,000.
Upgrades to Ukrainian centre for children with disabilities will improve sustainability
When the Russian invasion began in February 2022 forcing many Ukrainians to leave their homes, Lviv became a major hub for persons fleeing the fighting in other parts of Ukraine. The Dzherelo Centre turned their focus to helping children and young people with disabilities from among the growing number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). 
PWRDF supports Ukrainians with disabilities
For a person with mobility issues navigating through rubble, or someone who is visually impaired no longer in familiar surroundings, daily life becomes even more complicated. PWRDF is supporting the advocacy group Fight for Right with a $64,000 grant to improve health and safety for people with disabilities.
Leaving a legacy
As part of our five-year strategic plan, PWRDF is committed to doing everything possible to improve institutional sustainability. This includes all apsects of fundraising. PWRDF's Senior Advisor of Planned Giving and Major Gifts, Manita Swati, lays out the options for us in this webinar.
Securing a Future
PWRDF is proud to be a participant in the second season of Tapestry 2030, a podcast series produced by OCIC. Episode 4, entitled Securing a Future, was produced by members of PWRDF's Youth Council, who interviewed Farida Ahkter, Executive Director of UBINIG in Bangladesh, and two staffers, Rabiul and Ajmira. They described their experience with climate mitigation and adaptation and how their responses and projects are being led by Indigenous peoples sharing local knowledge.
PWRDF wants to hear from you!
Please share your fundraising success stories to inspire others and to spread the word about the good work you have done! Email Christine Hills and tell us about it. Many thanks to all of our donors.
PWRDF June online events
Praying with PWRDF in June
All are welcome to join our online parish. Hundreds have prayed with us from across Canada.
  • June 2: Andy Harrington, Executive Director of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank is our reflector. We will also welcome supporters of Anglican Grow Hope as we turn Praying with PWRDF into a Virtual Rogation Prayer Service.
  • June 16: Sophia Gebreyes of Lutheran World Federation of Ethiopia is our reflector.
June 22, 1 p.m. ET
Let the PWRDF Wild Ride begin!

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees recently announced that the number of refugees and displaced persons in the world has surpassed 100 million people. Roughly 1% of the world's population is on the move. From unseaworthy boats in the Mediterranean to La Bestia, a train that refugees and migrants ride north through Mexico, the desperate journeys that refugees take often meet a tragic end.
 
In some ways, COVID-19 and the global pandemic has been its own wild ride, upending the lives of so many in ways we are only beginning to understand.

This summer you are invited to participate in the PWRDF Wild Ride in support of our partners who serve refugees and displaced people. (This is replacing the Ride for Refuge in which PWRDF has participated for many years.) Join others across the country as we walk, cycle, roller blade, bake, read, knit, crochet, swim, kayak, canoe, dance and sing (and just about any other wild ride activity you would like to undertake).

To learn more about the campaign and how you can get involved, register for the webinar.
June 28, 3 p.m. ET
Indigenous Responsive Programs Grant
In 2021, PWRDF developed the Indigenous Responsive Programs and grant application in consultation with our Indigenous Program Advisory Committee (IPAC). Indigenous-led communities or organizations are invited to apply for a grant from the Responsive Program in the amount of $5,000 to $15,000, for programming that supports safe water, youth engagement, community health and/or climate action. Through this Responsive Programs grant, PWRDF aims to grow our overall Indigenous Development Program and ​enhance our institutional relationships and partnerships with programs that are Indigenous-led and help us to learn from and with First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities across Canada. In this webinar, you will learn how the Indigenous Responsive Programs Grant works, and you will hear from Freda Lepine from Indigenous People’s Alliance of Manitoba-North (IPAM-N) and the Rev. Lori Calkins of the Diocese of Edmonton's Indigenous Cultural Birth Support Worker Program. Both organizations are grant recipients.
PWRDF coming to a church near you – virtually

PWRDF has joined scores of virtual worship services at parishes across the country. Staff can deliver a prerecorded sermon, or join live worship on Zoom or other platforms. To learn more or to book a virtual guest speaker, contact Public Engagement Officer Christine Hills.
OTHER EVENTS
World Refugee Day – June 20, 2022
It is non-negotiable: seeking safety is a human right.
Wherever they come from, people forced to flee should be welcomed. World Refugee Day honours the strength and courage of refugees and encourages public awareness and support of the refugees, people who have had to flee their home lands because of conflict or natural disaster.
PWRDF supports Cooperation Canada advocacy campaign
PWRDF is among the 60 Canadian global development and humanitarian organizations who are urging the Government of Canada to amend the Budget Implementation Act so we can engage in more equitable partnerships with communities at the forefront of global aid.
RESOURCES
Education Focus Year One Learning Module #5
Naba Gurung, centre, PWRDF's Humanitarian Response Coordinator, reflects on the impact of climate related disasters on food security.
What does it mean to wait and to prepare for the coming growing season? What does it mean to wait and prepare as climate change wreaks havoc on seasons and life cycles? What does it mean to wait and prepare for the next climate change-induced disaster? And where do we find hope as we wait and prepare?  This Learning Module invites you to explore the theme of “waiting and preparing.”
Book your online
Mapping Exercise

PWRDF's Mapping the Ground We Stand On is now available as an online workshop. Click here to learn more, or to book your workshop, email Christine Hills.
Climate Action resources available
for order
PWRDF’s 2021 resources focus on UN Sustainable Development Goal #13, Climate Action. Our series of bulletin inserts highlight how PWRDF partners are taking climate action to improve food security, empower women, health, Indigenous communities, emergency response, refugees and displaced people and engaging youth.
PWRDF | Website