...from North Korea with Luv......

It’s incredible to think that seven years ago North Korea was a crisis that few had heard of, but a small group of college students were finally exposed to the atrocities and reacted the only way they could – with heavy hearted conviction to do whatever was necessary to tell the stories of the North Korean people – and it sparked a movement. What began with bake sales and benefit concerts on college campuses across the US would eventually become the only grassroots organization in North America fully dedicated and working full-time on this issue. So as we find ourselves at the beginning of a brand new year, we are filled with overwhelming gratitude and joyful hearts as we marvel at the year that has just passed and all of the extraordinary things we did together along the way.

In 2010 we found ourselves in the midst of amazingly creative partnerships with Ford Motors, Cinnabun, Giant Robot, Full Circle Exchange, and others, that brought impact to this issue in unique ways. We were excited to launch 3 national tours traveling 4 routes across the US, and even into parts of Canada, where we met over 47,000 of you at 700 different events. We shared the stories of our North Korean friends and you also shared your homes, your schools, and your stories with us. We were continuously inspired, humbled and overwhelmed by your response and the sacrifices you hardly hesitated to make – birthday gifts, vacation savings, monthly outings, selling possessions and even collecting cans!

We worked swiftly to turn your gifts into action, eager to bring refugees out of hiding and to send your support where it was most needed. Over 80 stateless children were supported through our programs in China offering education, transportation, food and even shelter to a small group who had been abandoned or did not have families to care for them– one being a young girl whose father had tried to sell her.

Through TheHundred campaign, we were able to rescue 22 North Korean refugees out of hiding in China last year, bringing them safely to our shelter in Southeast Asia where they were assisted by our Protection Officers in processing to a third country. We provided direct care, assistance, education and cultural preparation for 13 refugees in our Southeast Asia shelter. And by the end of the year, we had helped to bring 23 refugees safely to resettlement in South Korea and the US. Among that group 3 were able to reunite with their families. Although another year has come and gone, 2010 will be an unforgettable year for those who were finally brought to freedom and began their new lives.

We are still here and able to do this work only because you have stood alongside us and supported our efforts, encouraged and believed in our mission, and helped us in unimaginable ways. So as we celebrate 2010, we also look forward to even bigger milestones this year in 2011. We will expand our awareness efforts so that we can reach the entire US and most of Canada, we will implement the $80,000 that was raised last year to rescue 32 more North Korean refugees, and we will spread out our reach in China so that we can impact more children without homes, families and a future. We hope to do all of this and more with your continued support in 2011. Happy new year friends! LiNK

WWW.LINKGLOBAL.ORG  |  INFO@LINKGLOBAL.ORG  |  310.212.7190 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              310.212.7190      end_of_the_skype_highlighting  |