Dear Friends,
The Rachel Corrie Foundation began because of our desire to create a place where work reflecting Rachel’s values and her passion for the world would continue. We were motivated by other families who when faced with losses like ours had also looked to a foundation to provide a structure for work that could continue in their children’s names – by the family of Amy Biehl, who was killed in South Africa as she registered voters for the first election in which all South Africans could vote, and by the family of Daniel Pearl, who was brutally murdered while working as a journalist in Pakistan.
While our family birthed the Rachel Corrie Foundation, we knew from the outset that it would take many others to build a sustainable organization, as well as one that would reflect the breadth of Rachel’s interests and the creativity and inclusiveness that were hallmarks of her life. With a small number of board members and continuous support from our local community, as well as from friends throughout the country and world, we have engaged in efforts related to our core emphases of education, connection, art and the written word, and grassroots activism – all in the pursuit of justice and peace.
Craig and I continue to be personally active in the foundation and presently serve on the Board of Directors and as officers. While we provide a face for the organization, some of our work happens outside of it. This is true of continuing efforts to seek accountability for Rachel and, also, to share her writing in various ways, through mediums like the play My Name is Rachel Corrie and the book to be published in the spring by W.W. Norton & Company entitled, Let Me Stand Alone. The foundation provides information and education related to these efforts, and benefits in ways from them, but its primary work is related more to aspects of our mission that directly address our focus area of Israel/Palestine. The impact of the foundation’s work is felt both locally and as far away as Gaza.
This year, while staying very busy with our programs and events, we also took steps important to the Rachel Corrie Foundation’s future when we established our presence in downtown Olympia with our small, new office; added paid, part-time staff for office operations and project and website development; and expanded our Board of Directors. With each of these steps, we strengthened the organization, enhanced our ability to work more effectively in the world, and made it more likely that the work Rachel might have imagined will continue through the foundation, long after Craig and I depart.
We thank all of you who have supported us in our challenging, but also rewarding, journey. With your encouragement, you have made the Rachel Corrie Foundation possible. As we mark the end of another year and forward to the possibilities of the next, we humbly ask that you please continue to be part of all we do.
With gratitude and hope,
Cindy Corrie President Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice