Since our founding, Rainbow World Fund's mission has been to promote peace, unity and hope by leading the LGBT movement in participating in humanitarian relief efforts. This past Friday's abhorrent attacks in Paris served as a reminder that our world is not at peace, and that our mission is as important today, if not more so, than it was when we first started in 2000.
Paris is just the latest place to have grabbed our attention. A similar attack happened in Beirut a day earlier. And the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis has been a mainstay of headlines throughout the year. We are shocked and sickened by the carnage, but we also refuse to give up hope.
For the past nine years, Rainbow World Fund (RWF) has presented the Rainbow World Fund World Tree of Hope as a symbol of global unity, peace, and hope. Located in San Francisco's historic City Hall, this year's RWF World Tree of Hope - our tenth - will be graced by thousands of origami cranes inscribed with wishes for the future of the world. We invite you to submit your wish by clicking
here. Each wish will be printed, folded into an origami crane, and placed on the RWF World Tree of Hope throughout December.
If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, we invite you to join us for the official lighting of the RWF World Tree of Hope on Wednesday, December 2, from 5:30-7:00pm followed by a reception until 8:00pm. We will be joined by Emcee Cheryl Jennings, the San Francisco Boys' Chorus, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, the Deputy Consul General of Japan, and The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Admission is free.
These are trying times, to be sure, but we now have more reason than ever to show the world that the LGBT and friends' community cares and supports our global neighbors.
Sincerely,
