2,000 Pounds of Love Headed for Afghanistan: “Send Off Party” Set for This Week

West Des Moines, IA (PRWEB) May 20, 2011

Two thousand pounds of love, hope, food and friendship notes are bound for the rugged hillsides of Afghanistan late next week. With one big dream and one small scoop at a time, hundreds of buckets are filled this week with dry goods, school supplies, well-wishes and clothing, bound for our Afghan friends beginning Wednesday, May 18, 5:30 p.m. at William Penn University College for Working Adults, 6000 Westown Parkway, in West Des Moines.

It is a labor of commitment and dedication coming to fruition because William Penn University College for Working Adults students, an army of volunteers and a community of determined Iowans want to show our Afghani neighbors what a helping hand stretched halfway around the world feels like. Lowe’s, Hy-Vee Food Stores, Knapp Properties and American Equity Investment Life Insurance and countless area businesses stepped up to make this Send Off Party a reality.

Back home in Iowa, students, community and the U.S. armed forces are changing Afghani lives by what they have done: collecting a mountain of flour, rice, clothing, dry goods and “load ‘em up and move them out” for Afghanistan.

William Penn University College for Working Adults and those generous central Iowa companies spent March and April with a massive collection drive under the direction of businessman and university instructor Rob Elgin of Des Moines. Donations poured in with school supplies, clothing, books and a whole lot of hope. Elgin said, "Military programs are trying to win the hearts of Afghan citizens. There is no better way of doing this than by helping to save the lives of their children."

For an Afghanistan child, this war-torn nation is one of the most dangerous places on earth:

• 20% will die before age five--falling victim to malnutrition, hypothermia, or war-related hazards

*The remainder face a constant fight for survival- searching for food as they struggle in the bitter Afghan winters

To help send off the love, contact William Penn University College for Working Adults at (515) 222-9949, ext 1348 or email Sherill.Whisenand(at)cwa(dot)wmpenn(dot)edu

William Penn University is a liberal arts university, based in Oskaloosa, Iowa (USA) with non-traditional campuses in West Des Moines (Iowa), Centerville (Iowa) and Ankeny (Iowa). William Penn University provides the opportunity for an educational experience with a focus on leadership, technology, and the Quaker principles of simplicity, peace-making, integrity, community and equality.

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