---------- Forwarded message ---------- Hello, Please pass this info around to your respective lists and consider bringing friends and buying tickets early if you're coming. Thanks! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benefit Dinner for Families Devastated by Immigration Raids in New Bedford Sunday, April 29, 6pm Grace Episcopal Church Parish Hall, Spring Street, Amherst Speakers, Central American Food & Music Guests of Honor: Central American families in the deportation process after ICE raid Tickets available at: Hastings, Food for Thought, Cushman Store (Amherst) Broadside Books (Northampton) World Eye Books (Greenfield) $20 Adults $10 Kids 3-12 Free under 3 Additional donations appreciated. Seating is limited–please buy tickets in advance and arrive early! All proceeds to the Niños Fund created by the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Avocacy (MIRA) Coalition and the Community Foundation of Southeast Massachusetts. 100 percent of donations aid families affected by the raids. ••• What's the story? The Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is aggressively implementing its strategy for "removal of all removable aliens." On March 6, in a raid on workers at a defense contractor in New Bedford, ICE rounded up and incarcerated 366 mostly-female textile workers, leaving many children stranded as their parents were flown to out-of-state detention centers. Several breastfeeding infants were left motherless and one was hospitalized for dehydration. Headlines have faded, but their crisis continues. Why should the Pioneer Valley help? The need in New Bedford is huge We can; few Valley residents face the dire needs these families are experiencing We must be ready; raids large and small are happening everywhere and will happen here Aside from attending the dinner, what can I do? Donations of money, supplies and food are needed. Because rent, health care, and legal aid are urgent needs and most families have lost one or both incomes, donating as much money as you can is the best way to help. For more information, see www.miracoalition.org. ••• * **Thanks to our sponsors: * * **Grace Episcopal Church, Bueno Y Sano, * * **Mi Tierra, Mama Iguana's, Ben & Jerry's, * * **Ecuador Andino Store, La Veracruzana* For more information, email deb.bix@verizon.net ------------------------------ Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell? Check out new cars at Yahoo! Autos.