August 2, 2007

Red Cross Steps Up Aid in Kandahar

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In case you haven’t checked it out yet, our current issue contains a feature about the dire lack of medical facilities and staff in Afghanistan. The story chronicles the experiences of a doctor working in a military base hospital. The author also visits Red Cross-assisted Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar City and comments on the complications its staff encounters in attempting to provide care to Afghan soldiers and civilians.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, to which copies of the issue were delivered, released in a statement this week news that it has reached an agreement with the Afghan government “under which the ICRC will significantly increase its support for Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar, one of the most important medical facilities in the conflict-ridden southern part of the country.” The ICRC emailed Mother Jones to let us know of its pledge to “improve the overall quality of health care and the performance of hospital staff” at Mirwais for at least the next two years.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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