We had a great day at Roosevelt Island in New York on October 4, where hundreds of people gathered to run, walk, and otherwise offer support for women in the Congo who have been victimized by the endless war that forms the setting for Heart of Diamonds. It was the NY Run for Congo Women, a fundraiser for Women For Women International.
This four-star charity helps women provide for their families by teaching them skills they need to end the cycle of poverty and suffering, providing funds to help them start businesses, and teaching them to protect themselves against the terror around them.
(from left: me, my son Jeremy, my wife Nora, and our friends Sacha, Art, and Connie)
I'd like to thank everyone who joined the Heart of Diamonds team and showed your solidarity with the women of the Congo. Six of us were able to appear, but dozens others supported us with generous donations and heart-felt good wishes. When all was said and done, we raised nearly $1,000 -- a nice portion of the $15,000 raised by the event.
I also had the pleasure of meeting Lisa Jackson, whose documentary film, The Greatest Silence: Rape In The Congo aired on HBO earlier this year and won a special prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. We chatted before the run, then in a nice bit of serendipity, the Outreach Coordinator for Jackson Films, Joseph Mbangu, won a copy of Heart of Diamonds in the raffle afterward!
Thanks again to all the donors and well-wishers who supported this great cause.
Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds
Tags: romantic thriller, Congo, blood diamonds
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