Thank you for visiting my fundraising page!

On Saturday, September 12th, I plan to participate in Beyond the Bike, a 100K (62 miles) ride to help raise money and awareness for Beyond the 11th, an organization co-founded by my friend Susan Retik, who lost her husband on September 11th.  Please help me achieve my goal of raising $1000! 
Beyond the 11th is a non-profit organization that provides support to widows in Afghanistan who have been affected by war, terrorism and oppression. Co-founders Susan Retik and Patti Quigley were moved to action in the wake of September 11th, which claimed the lives of their husbands.  Supported by their families and communities, the obvious disparity between the support they received and the cruel realities facing their Afghan counterparts prompted them to channel their grief towards empowering Afghan widows to realize a better and sustainable future.  Susan’s commitment to this project is both humbling and inspiring, and that is why I am writing to you today.
This ride is specifically to raise money for construction of the Dragon Valley Women's Community Center in Bamyan, Afghanistan.  Few places in the world are less hospitable to women than Dragon Valley.  With a climate dominated by a frigid winter, and no central heat, plumbing or electricity in homes, women rarely if ever manage a reprieve from grueling household chores and childrearing.  Work for income is rarely an option. A life expectancy of 46 is far too easy to imagine for women in this village cradled by the northern mountains of Afghanistan.  The community center will provide women access to a warm, safe facility where they can take classes, do laundry, bathe, use a flush toilet, collaborate with other weavers in a bright, spacious loom room or just sit for a moment in a chair and sip a hot cup of tea. For the women of Dragon Valley, these are unimaginable luxuries. The Community Center will give women who are among the poorest in the world a sense of value and will provide the chance to improve their weaving skills or train for additional life-changing job opportunities.
Join me in supporting Beyond the 11th by visiting my webpage at http://www.firstgiving.com/davidgoldberg1.  Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. Many thanks for your support -- and please forward this to anyone who you think might want to support Beyond the Bike, Beyond the 11th, and the women of Dragon Valley. 

Thank You,

David