Since October, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has provided food, water, and other supplies to Palestinians in Gaza. As of mid-March, AFSC staff in Gaza have assisted more than 343,231 displaced people in the region. AFSC offers a weekly meeting for worship with attention to peace every Thursday via Zoom. The organization is mobilizing people to advocate for a cease-fire, humanitarian access, and the peaceful release of all civilians held captive.
AFSC collected hundreds of public comments in support of a U.S. Department of Agriculture policy change, announced in September 2023, that enabled 3,000 more school districts to provide free meals to students, impacting millions of children.
Other recent highlights include: advocating with partners in California for the Racial Justice Act 3.0, which strengthens a path for people to challenge racist convictions and sentences; endorsing another law requiring California to notify people about community-based restorative justice programs; bringing a delegation of African peacebuilders to advocate in Washington, D.C. (Delegates met with policymakers to remind them of the human cost of wars and the need to invest in Africa-led solutions); providing food, water, and medical care to migrants held by the U.S. Border Patrol at open-air detention sites along the U.S.-Mexico border. AFSC and partners have also filed a federal complaint against the Department of Homeland Security.
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