Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Updated: July 27th, 2020
New York (TADIAS) — The Ethiopian community in the New York Tri-State area — New York, New Jersey and Connecticut — is launching a fundraising campaign today (Monday, July 27th) aptly named “Wegen Le Wegen, NY Tri-State for Ethiopia.”
The announcement states that the fundraising campaign is “part of the Ethiopian Government’s effort to prevent and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” and in response to the call by the Permanent Mission of Ethiopia to the United Nations requesting that the Ethiopian Diaspora mobilize support.
The recently formed New York area task force for the Ethiopia COVID-19 Relief Fund (ECRF) is made up various associations including several churches, the muslim community and several non-profit organizations.
The program, which kicks off today at 5pm, will be primarily in Amharic and broadcast on Facebook live at https://www.facebook.com/events/285157982572025
According to a fact sheet shared with Tadias, “all Ethiopian Embassies around the world are mobilizing the Diaspora to raise funds for Ethiopia. All funds raised under this initiative will be transferred [to the] “Corona Virus Mitigation Trust Fund” at Commercial Bank in Ethiopia. The money will be used according to the priorities identified by the Ethiopian National COVID-19 Pandemic Taskforce for the Response and Mitigation of COVID Virus.”
As of this week the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Ethiopia has topped 14,000 and is fast rising. “Studies show that low income countries need massive injections of cash into their economies,” the press release emphasized. “They’re not able to provide the kinds of measures that enable safe behavior by the public (unemployment benefits, food banks etc…) as has been provided in wealthier countries. The scale of the pandemic has demonstrated worldwide need that on average is $1.90/day to 3.3 billion people for a period of six months, starting as soon as possible.”
The announcement added:
The worldwide Ethiopia COVID-19 Response Team and other localized fund raising efforts such as Boston’s response to the challenge are models for this initiative. In a matter of days, teams were formed as a support group to help Ethiopia with technology to collect information, identify clusters, analyze data and respond. Boston’s task Force Raised $150K in less than one month. Everyone provided their skills and financial resources in whatever capacity fit them. We are asking members of the Diaspora in the Tri-State area to do the same.
Donations are accepted by:
– Wire-transfer to: Citibank
– Check to: The Permanent Mission of Ethiopia to the UN
– Paypal to: The Permanent Mission of Ethiopian to the UN
– Through a participant Ethiopian Community Representative Organization
Every dollar raised by the Tri-State area offsets the need for dependence on others and demonstrates our unity and personal commitment to those struggling – Wegen Le Wegen. We’ve been able to get through, helping each other here and giving back as well. Ethiopia needs you, join the fight!
—
You can learn more about the Ethiopia COVID-19 Relief Fund (ECRF) Taskforce and contribute at http://www.ecmaany.org/wegenlewegen.
Related: