DAI Closes 2020 with Local Donations Supporting Schools, Food Security, Refugees and the Homeless, and Victims of Sexual Assault

January 22, 2021

At the close of a pandemic-stricken year that has proven challenging to so many people in so many ways, DAI offices around the world made charitable contributions totaling $18,000 to local service organizations. We would like to thank all of these organizations for the work they do to support our communities.

In our Apsley location in the United Kingdom, DAI continued a longstanding relationship with DENS, an organization that assists people in the Dacorum district of Hertfordshire who are facing homelessness, poverty, and social exclusion. Launched as a temporary night shelter in 1998, DENS was formally established in 2003 and, as of the first week of January 2021, DENS is supporting 95 people who would otherwise have nowhere to stay and 121 people facing food poverty.

“We want you to know how much we appreciate your support and your thoughtfulness for those individuals who are most in need during these difficult times when demand on our services has been higher than ever,” wrote Fran Martin, Head of Fundraising & Communications at DENS.

It is a great privilege to be able to make a modest contribution to the very important work that you at @MirabelCentreNG are doing to support victims of sexual and gender-based violence in Nigeria. All of us at @DAIGlobal respect and appreciate your work. Well done. Cc. @enenezig https://t.co/iKtlvVu27z

— Dr. Joe Abah (@DrJoeAbah) January 22, 2021

In Lagos, Nigeria, DAI made a charitable donation to Partnership for Justice, an organization that provides free medical, emotional, and legal support to victims of rape through its crisis response unit, the Mirabel Centre. The Centre—which has supported more than 5,400 sexual assault survivors since its inception in 2013, according to founder Itoro Eze-Anaba—provides anti-rape education and outreach to reduce the incidence of sexual violence, through community partnerships to raise awareness, mobilize public opinion, and foster an anti-sexual-violence culture.

“They do fantastic work,” said Joe Abah, DAI’s Country Director in Nigeria.

In our Bethesda, Maryland, location, we supported the Montgomery County Public Schools Linkages to Learning Program, which has for 25 years served school communities with high rates of poverty by addressing the social, economic, health, and emotional issues that may interfere with student success. DAI’s funding provided grocery and other gift cards over the holiday period for vulnerable families and young people.

“We rely on donations from local community partners such as yours to make this program possible,” wrote social worker Haifa Krakaur, Supervisor and Special Projects Coordinator for the program. “Thank you again for your continued support!”

DAI also contributed match funding to the Montgomery County Food Council, which works to build a local, nutritious, robust, and equitable food system for all residents of the county. “We are sincerely grateful for your organization’s generosity, and our progress and successes would not be possible without your valuable contributions,” said Executive Director Heather Bruskin.

Finally, in Sofia, Bulgaria, DAI made a donation to The Council of Refugee Women in Bulgaria, an organization launched in 2002 to help refugees and asylum seekers integrate in Bulgarian society.