FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
JUNE 29, 2022
CONTACT: Georgeann Hartzog, 618-521-4239; MJ Smerken, 618-534-5403
The 30th IFCO/Pastors for Peace Friendshipment Caravan to Cuba arrives in Carbondale on Friday, July 8, 2022. The Peace Coalition of Southern Illinois is helping organize a welcome as the Caravan passes through Southern Illinois. The evening will offer a special music event and update on Cuba at the Carbondale Unitarian Fellowship, 105 N. Parrish Lane. The event is free and open to the public; donations will be collected for the work of IFCO/Pastors for Peace.
Doors will open at 6:30 PM with SIWADE (Southern Illinois West African Drumming Ensemble), a long-time favorite of Southern Illinoisans and a performance of Latin Folkloric Music with Colleen Springer-Lopez and Regina Zavala. Refreshments will be served.
Updates on Cuba will be provided by Pastors for Peace Caravanista Dr. Samira Addrey, a 2020 graduate of the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba (ELAM), and Cheryl LaBash who made her first trip to Cuba in 1985 as a member of the executive board of her AFSCME local in the city of Detroit.
The event will collect funds to help the Caravan take medicine and supplies to Cuba. While Cuba developed its own vaccines, simple medicines and medical supplies are in short supply due to the 60 years plus embargo and the impacts of COVID, so the focus is on raising funds to purchase in bulk.
A ZOOM participation option will be provided by the Unitarian Fellowship. For a sign-on or more information, contact Georgeann Hartzog or call (618) 521-4239. The Social Action Committee of the Carbondale Unitarian Fellowship and the Church of the Good Shepherd UCC are cosponsors. More information on this effort to break down the barriers with Cuba can be found at the IFCO website: www.ifconews.org.
