Activist Speaks On Darfur At Garden School
David Wexler, a Garden School senior and president of the

The Garden School, 33- 16 79th St., Jackson Heights, welcomed Ruth Messinger, president of the American Jewish World Service, who spoke on "From Awareness to Action: Responding to Genocide in Darfur" on January 25.

Student Council, invited Ruth Messinger, president of American Jewish World Service (AJWS), an organization providing on-the-ground aid in Darfur, and a national leader in raising public awareness about Darfur, to address students of The Garden School in Jackson Heights on Thursday, January 25 about the ongoing genocide in Darfur and the responsibility to take action.

Messinger is nationally recognized as the major force in rousing public action to end the crisis. In her presentation, "From Awareness to Action: Responding to Genocide in Darfur", Messinger recounted to the student body her own firsthand experience in Sudan, provided an update on the current situation and encouraged the students' continued action to end the genocide. AJWS, an international development organization, has been providing humanitarian aid to the displaced people of Darfur and is a co-founder, along with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, of the Save Darfur Coalition.

The program was the kickoff for a major fundraising effort to support the people of Darfur, with a $500 contribution to AJWS as the start. More funds raised through bake sales and other fundraising activities will be contributed to the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Students of The Garden School, who come from Queens, Long Island and New York City, have raised more than $1,000 for aid groups working in Darfur. They have sold green plastic Darfur bracelets and held bake sales as well as "Jeans Days", days when students can wear jeans instead of uniforms and contribute their "fines" as a donation.

Wexler is the lead organizer of the school's advocacy to help the people of Darfur. He was inspired to get involved with efforts to stop the genocide in Darfur when at a cousin's graduation in 2004 he heard the musician and social activist Bono speak about Africa. Upon returning home, he did research and "figured Darfur needed the most help". He found a group of fellow students who were also interested in doing something to stop the genocide in Darfur. They created activities to engage the rest of the student body, such as distributing literature, discussing the issue with classmates and maintaining a bulletin board to keep everyone up-to-date about the crisis.

Rabbi Robert Levine, Senior Rabbi at Temple Rodeph Sholom and president of the New York Board of Rabbis, Michael Rakosi, The Garden School, Class of 1964 and member of the school Board of Trustees, Messinger, Wexler and Dr. Richard Marotta, The Garden School headmaster.

Wexler came on the idea of holding an assembly this year because of stories his father told him about various approaches of student activism taken to end the Viet- nam War. Wexler was moved by how the students affected history. "We should do the same thing about Darfur to educate students and what they can do about it," he said.

The day after Messinger's presentation students held a bake sale and a "Jeans Day" with the goal of raising $1,200 to go to aid the people of Darfur.

The Garden School's partnership with AJWS and the IRC is the most recent effort undertaken by students and families from the school's nursery through-Grade 12 community, which in the past has made substantial contributions to organizations such as the American Diabetes Association (ADA), Ronald McDonald House, tsunami relief efforts, the American Red Cross and Advance Baton Rouge (Hurricane Katrina Relief).

AJWS is an international development organization motivated by Judaism's imperative to pursue justice. AJWS is dedicated to alleviating poverty, hunger and disease among the people of the developing world regardless of race, religion or nationality. Through grants to grassroots organizations, volunteer service, advocacy and education, AJWS fosters civil society, sustainable development and human rights for all people, while promoting the values and responsibilities of global citizenship within the Jewish community (www.ajws.org).