"Hear
the bugle call of who you are. Hear the deep call and invitation to
live that. And let yourself not know how, but don't stuff it in a
closet because you don't know how, live the don't know how. Walk into
work not knowing how. Greet the clerk at the grocery store with 'I
don't know how.' It's the willingness that opens the door to the
complete takeover." ~ Henry Miller
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Contact Us
To find out more about how you can help or become more involved with AWB feel free to contact us at (505) 266-3878 or email us at info@acuwithoutborders.org |
Year End Summary
New Members who joined at the
New York (Left) and Los Angeles (Below) trainings in 2008
We
have grown considerably since our New Orleans Relief and Recovery
program, and we are now further building the foundation to take AWB to
another level.
 We were able respond to the California Wildfires last fall with hundreds of treatments in outlying areas to people that were not being served the way people were closer to San Diego. Our volunteers went out to border towns, and served communities hard hit with few resources. Many of these were primarily Latino communities.
(Click HERE to read on)
Family treated at Jefferson Parish Shelter, New Orleans, LA
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Veterans Day Events and Beyond
In
all there were 20 Community Acupuncture Fundraising Events held
throughout the country in honor of Veterans Day and as a way of raising
funding and awareness for the National Veterans Project.
Thank you to all who volunteered their time, energy and resources to this effort.
We
hope everyone receiving this newsletter will consider holding an event
in honor of Earth Day this spring as we invite everyone to "Recycle
your Energy!" with a community acupuncture treatment!
We will have an updated Community Acupuncture Event Kit available by the end of January for those who wish to participate.
Contact AWB with a few sentences about your interest in holding an event and we will get back to you when the kit is ready!
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Grants
Dear Diana and AWB,
"As
president of the Board of Directors of Community Development Institute,
whose mission is "to inspire people and communities to generate their
own transformation," I am pleased to inform you that we have approved a
grant to AWB. The grant is for 18,000 the first year and 12,000 the
second year beginning January 1, 2009, to be paid out in monthly
installments at the first of each month. The funds may be used for
general operations supporting your projects for disaster relief and
veteran's free clinics. I cannot think of a better way for our funds
to be used at this time to heal individual, family and community trauma
and thus our country's deeply divided spirit. We feel privileged to be
able to partner with you in this way."
Sincerely, Carolyn Miller
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In addition to the above mentioned grant, AWB has received two other
grants within the past 4 months, both from small private foundations,
in the amounts of $7,500(second year grant), and $15,000.
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First grant received for a local Veterans Clinic - Veterans Acupuncture
Care in Framingham, MA and AWB have been awarded a $5000 grant from
Tufts Health Care Foundation.
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Voices from the field...
"I've
been in acupuncture for eight years, and I have found it to be
wonderfully gratifying to be able to affect patients' physical and
emotional pain. But nothing I have done in those years compares to the
satisfaction I experience every week treating my vets for their post
combat stress.
When
these men and women first started coming, (all Vietnam era soldiers)
they were guarded at best, some obviously still traumatized, some quite
disheveled and wanting to be alone in a treatment room rather than with
the others. As the weeks passed, I saw a beautiful transformation in
every one of them. Their appearance improved, the loners started
joining
 the others, quietly at first and then finally participating
fully. I tried to make it a quiet, relaxing experience for them, but
this group would have none of it. They are boisterous, energetic, they
share their experiences and humor, and some have since been able to
participate in other forms of emotional healing, fully recalling war
experiences that til now were fully repressed. The energy freed from
repressing the memory is now expressing in joy rather than depression.
I continue to see profound change in every one of them."
Ellen Leonard, L.Ac., Grants Pass, Oregon
Dear Colleagues,
"A quick follow up on our July correspondences:
The
Big Sur wildfire relief clinic was a huge success. We averaged 20
patients per three hour shift until the service was discontinued last
month.
Another fire started around that time and took off, finally being fully contained at over 16,000 acres today.
The threat of mudslides is massive on burned slopes. Many steep slopes burned to the highway and several homes are at risk.
The
Big Sur Health Center director has decided to allocate a small stipend,
as well as the use of their community room to the acupuncture program,
which we plan to resume November 11th. She was impressed by the
overwhelming, positive response of the community.
The Acupuncturists Without Borders field manual was a wonderful support. Thank you! "
Sincerely,
George Samuel |
AWB Welcomes New Board Member
 Stephanie
Georgieff resides and practices in Southern California. She received
her Masters of Science in Traditional Chinese Medicine from the
American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in San Francisco. In
addition to her Acupuncture Practice, she teaches natural medicine,
herbs and nutrition at local community colleges and nursing programs.
Active in the Peace, Justice and Environmental movement for years,
Stephanie incorporates these concepts into her public speaking and
writing endeavors. She hosted a call in radio talk show, entitled Green
Medicine, and continues to write in local and national publications, as
well as her personal Blog at www.GreenRx.org, on practicing medicine in
harmony with nature and with justice to the human community as a whole.
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In Closing
Out
of every tragedy arises the opportunity to heal ourselves and the
world, cultivating compassion within ourselves, and spreading that to
every living being. In the three plus years since AWB's formation, with
your help, we've been able to offer thousands of treatments for people
suffering the devastating effects of acute stress, post-combat stress, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
One dollar offered to AWB is one dollar invested in the healing of the world.
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In the spirit of service,
Diana Fried, Executive Director
and the AWB Staff
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Acupuncture and AWB Scoffed at by Mens Magazine
See the article and comments HERE |
To Our Supporters!
Thanks
to all who have donated or joined AWB as members. Schools, businesses,
state acupuncture associations and individuals all make a difference by
pledging their support to AWB as we pursue our mission to bring relief
and recovery to populations in need.
AWB is only able to provide its services through your generosity!
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2008 Year End Fundraising Campaign
In
tough economic times it is heartwarming to know that our community is
still willing to give to support the work of AWB in the world.
You
may have received our year end fundraising letter in your mailbox or
through your email and we have been seeing the generous donations begin
to come in response.
If you would like to help us raise the bar for the total response to this years campaign you can Donate Now and/or Become a Member of AWB to keep the spirit of service alive and well in the acupuncture community!
Amount raised so far in our 2008 Year End campaign:
$3705.00
Help us reach $10,000.00
and we can provide relief and recovery to 1000 veterans, survivors and relief workers around the country.
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Veterans Project
New Clinics opening Regularly
Clinic Spotlight
Ithaca Veterans Acupuncture Clinic
225 South Fulton St.
Ithaca Free Clinic
Every Tuesday from 5-7pm - please arrive either at 5pm or 6pm
Free Clinic directions: 607-330-1253
Information: Abigail Thomas-Costello 607-274-7520
Click Here to make a donation to the Veterans Project
(be sure to write "Vets Project Donation" in the Notes field so we can earmark your donation appropriately!)
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Donate Now to the Disaster Ready Fund!*
$100
will allow 10 survivors or emergency responders in a disaster to
receive acupuncture that may help save their lives or help them save
the lives of others.
* be sure to write "Disaster Ready Fund" in the notes field in Paypal to earmark your donation.
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Training Scholarship Granted
Supported
by donations of previous trainees, AWB was able to award a scholarship
to Renee Barsa to come to the Los Angeles training. Renee lost her home
and all her belongings in the Montecito Tea House Fire in California
this fall. |
AWB Wish List
-Garmin GPS
-Frequent Flier tickets for Field Volunteers (enough miles for a full ticket)
-Portable printer
-Laminating Machine
-Paper folding machine
-Printing services
-Office chairs
-Desktop Computer
-3 Monitors, Keyboards and Mice
-Office supplies
-Sturdy luggage
-Databasing services
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AWB Behind the Scenes
Galveston, TX
AWB
has been supporting a local effort in Galveston, Texas, led by Claudia
McCalla, to support those who suffered the devastation from Hurricane
Ike. Claudia was given a scholarship to attend an AWB training, and is
now running a clinic at the William Temple Episcopal Center in
Galveston. If you are in the area and would like to be in contact with
Claudia about her efforts, please email us at info@acuwithoutborders.org
Houma, LA
NOLA
Volunteer Quang Huynh and his colleague worked independently to provide
relief treatments for those affected by hurricane Gustav in Houma, LA.
AWB was able to provide 5000 Needles and 600 ear seeds to support their efforts.
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Shop to Support
Shop your favorite online stores and a percentage will be donated to AWB.
Go to Goodsearch.com,
click on Shop Now, type in Acupuncturists Without Borders in the
appropriate box, and shop at many of your favorite stores (Amazon.com,
Target, Petsmart and many, many more).
We are registered as one of the recipient nonprofit organizations. |
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