The Darfur Wall Reaches Fundraising Milestones

Four hundred thousand numerals sprawl across the dark surface of the Darfur Wall (darfurwall.org). On May 25, when one of them turned from gray to white, the project reached a major milestone: $50,000 raised for Darfur.

The striking web site lists one number for each victim of genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Every dollar donated illuminates one number and honors one lost life. One hundred percent of the proceeds benefit four Darfur-relief organizations: Doctors Without Borders, the Save Darfur Coalition, Save the Children, and the Sudan Aid Fund.

Jonah Burke, a former Microsoft employee, launched the Darfur Wall from his Seattle apartment last November. With help from his brother and father, he promoted the project on a shoestring, relying on blogs, email, and MySpace. Over 3,000 people from 30 countries responded, donating $51,882.

"Jonah Burke has shown just how thoughtful and creative humanitarian funding support can be," said Dr. Eric Reeves, Director of the Sudan Aid Fund and an authority on Darfur. "The Darfur Wall is one of the most inspired and compelling fund-raising efforts I’ve seen in all my years of working on Sudan."

Like Dr. Reeves, people from around the country have been moved by the Wall’s stark symbolism. One Seattle woman illuminated three numbers to honor three relatives who died in the Holocaust. A Texas man lit one number per day for the forty days of Lent. On her sweet sixteen, a girl from Virginia asked her friends not give her presents but to light numbers on the Darfur Wall.

"The Darfur Wall is a terrific example of the passion that has driven this movement, with activists tapping into unprecedented levels of creativity, inspiration, and hope," said David Rubenstein, Executive Director of the Save Darfur Coalition. "This spirit is essential to moving our leaders to act to end the suffering in Darfur. And with every number lit on the Darfur Wall, this spirit helps each of us to stand a little taller in the quest for justice."