Another opportunity to help

Dear friends, As some of you know, I, and 17 other knitters in the area, have been busy this past year knitting and putting together an afghan - in a small effort to help bring about peace in the world through an organization called Central Asia Institute, founded by Greg Mortenson. Several years ago Greg Mortenson visited Hood River to talk about his work building schools in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to promote his bestseller "Three Cups of Tea" which chronicles his work. It is an amazing story of how one person can make a tremendous difference in the world, in this case by building schools, primarily for girls, in a fundamental Moslem part of the world, where only boys are traditionally educated, and then mostly in fundamentalist-based schools run by the Taliban. Greg and his organization CAI have completed over 60 schools to date! Greg's visit left a lasting imprint on many in the Gorge community. A silent auction was organized and held last May, and the money collected then, and in the months following, has reached a total of more than $30,000. An entire school can be built in Pakistan and Afghanistan by Mortenson's organization for about $34,000, so we are very close to having raised enough money for the gift of a school from this area. The afghan consists of 20 blocks of complex knitting - mostly cables, or what is referred to as aran knitting - and it is done up in a beautiful, offwhite wool. The dimensions are roughly 4' x 5'. See attachment with photo. I'm hoping you will get inspired to contribute to this wonderful cause, and wish to purchase raffle tickets with the chance of winning a gorgeous piece of handiwork. Each ticket is $5, and I will personally fill out a raffle stub and put it in the "tub" for each $5 you send me to 2556 East side Road, Hood River, OR 97031. Please make checks out to CAI (it is a tax-deductible donation), and mark your telephone number so I can call you if you are the lucky winner!! In Peace, Marie Louise