Jewish Voice for Peace 5

Help us raise $10,000 for the Young Leader Travel Fund in the next 10 Days Me at the 2009 AIPAC Policy Conference listening to Vice President Joe Biden's keynote - but this year I'm coming to the NMM! Dear Stan, In 2009, believe it or not, I was one of about 1,000 students who got a free or highly subsidized trip to the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. I was so put off by AIPAC’s approach that, in a way, it became my first step toward Jewish Voice for Peace. Still, I know firsthand that those trips make a big difference. They're opportunities for political education, relationship-building, mentorship, community building, and action. And AIPAC knew that without subsidies, most of us wouldn’t have been able to attend. Years later, now that I’ve started a JVP chapter on my own campus at Tufts University, I know the same holds true for young activists for peace and justice in Israel and Palestine. It is critical that those of us who can offer financial aid to help them make it to the 2013 Jewish Voice for Peace National Member Meeting (NMM). Please give now and help us make a $10,000 challenge match, put up by a longtime JVP donor, for the Young Leader Travel Fund. Donate here so that young adults like me can attend the NMM: www.jvp.org/YoungLeaderFund We have just 10 days to make the match. I know it’s crucial to make sure young leaders can access the kind of life-changing experiences that the major gatherings of political Jews and allies provide.  So we need to make sure young leaders can come to the NMM. I’m asking you to help us raise the matching $10,000 so that at least 50 young leaders in JVP - like me - can make it to the NMM this April. I am so excited for the NMM because I know I will be able to see, in person, Jewish Palestinian solidarity activists I’ve only read about.  I’ll be able to build the skills I need to continue building the Tufts chapter, and share strategies with other young Jews organizing on their campuses. Please pledge $36 or whatever you can right now toward this special Young Leader Travel Fund.   We need to raise the $10,000 in the next ten days, and get funds out as soon as possible to all the student and young adult leaders waiting to finalize their plans.   Thank you so much for supporting not just my own participation in the NMM, but for investing in the future of our movement.  It’s an investment I know that I, and my peers, take really seriously. Sincerely, Julia Wedgle JVP-Tufts