In this update:

• The new first aid tent at NMD’s Byrd Camp, and your support
• A call for vehicle donations
• Volunteer for Spring Break 2012!

The new first aid tent at NMD’s Byrd Camp, and your support

Dear friends of No More Deaths, Picture yourself as part of the team of NMD volunteers who spent November 26 constructing the DRASH first aid tent at Byrd Camp. Like barn-raising parties of old, volunteers worked together to put up a structure that will better serve the medical needs of migrants. Thanks to Sarah Roberts and Gene Lefebvre who donated their Freedom from Fear award prize to this project. And thanks to all of you who have responded so generously to our ongoing appeals for funds so we can keep doing this humanitarian aid work. As 2011 comes to an end, we are sending out this special reminder to those of you who are planning to make your donation before December 31. We are a nonprofit organization and your donation is tax-deductible. There are two ways to make contributions: Make your check payable to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson (UUCT) and put No More Deaths on the memo line and send to No More Deaths, UUCT, P.O. Box 40782, Tucson, AZ 85717.   Go online to our website (www.nomoredeaths.org) and select the DONATE tab. Clear directions are provided for making a secure online donation or contributing in other ways. Speaking of other ways to contribute, we are including below a letter from our Vehicles Working Group that invites you or someone you know to consider donating a vehicle to No More Deaths. Thank you and Peace, The No More Deaths Community

A call for vehicle donations

Dear friends of No More Deaths,

All that’s left of the “Roja” is the engine and drive train—the frame, bed, and cab have disintegrated from all those hard years on the rough roads leading to the trails north of the border. Thanks to your generosity, we were able to acquire another, almost identical, and good-running Dodge and have been using the remains of the Roja for spare parts.

BUT, the toils of desert work this past spring and summer have left several of our other vehicles beyond realistic repair. This year we have again almost doubled the territory we are serving in the desert with lifesaving water, food, blankets and medical care, now many hundreds of square miles at least every week—and many of the busiest trails several times a week.

So, we are again asking you to help us find and/or finance replacements for these worn-out vehicles. If any of you have a line on any vehicle that can be donated to No More Deaths, please let us know. The Roja was donated in 2004 by a Mississippi rice farmer whose daughter was one of the founders of the Byrd Camp. Go to www.nomoredeaths.org and select the DONATE tab at the top of the page, then scroll down to Donate a Vehicle. Please share this with others.

We are also seeking money donations to our vehicle fund to cover these replacements and other automotive repair expenses, which were over $15,000 last year. Throughout the year we are venturing further and further into the roughest terrain to provide humanitarian services and precious water to those injured, sick, lost or simply worn-out. We are currently running five vehicles, but need to replace at least two of them before our Spring Break and summer programs. To contribute to the vehicle fund, you can send in a monetary donation as described above, and simply indicate on the check or the online-donation page that this donation is “for” or “on behalf of” the vehicle fund.

As our activities and efforts expand, we are counting on you all to keep us out in the desert and at the aid stations south of the border. Thank you in advance for responding to this appeal! We hope to see you soon in the desert and in the donation pool.

Con esperanza y paz,

The NMD Vehicles Working Group
Victor, Gene, Jim M., and Steve

Volunteer for Spring Break 2012!

No More Deaths invites volunteers to the borderlands to work against death and suffering on our border and in our cities. We welcome both groups and individuals to join us in responding to the human tragedy occurring in the Southern Arizona desert. During Alternative Spring Break, volunteers are welcome to join us for one or more weeks of work and education.

Week 1: March 3–10
Week 2: March 10–17
Week 3: March 17–24

Alternative Spring Break programming begins at 5 p.m. on Saturday and ends the following Friday at 10 p.m.

To join us for Spring Break, please see the program details and submit a request. Submitting a request is the first step in reserving space with us for your trip. We hope to see you in March!