Focusing on fulfilling its mission of providing monetary aid to organizations doing their part in assisting children in communities affected by disaster, poverty, and injustice, The Relief Project made its first grant of 2006 to two very worthy and notable non profit organizations - Save the Children and Community Service Center, Inc of New Orleans.

Save the Children was awarded an earmarked grant for their Pakistan Earthquake Emergency Fund that is providing thousands of children and their families with life saving assistance - including food, shelter materials, and health care as they are striving to rebuild the lives of those affected by last Fall's earthquake in the Allai Valley of Batagram.

Working against the clock across the vast disaster zone, Save the Children aims to ensure that children and families have a warm place to spend the extreme winter—and that the short- and long-term survival needs of the region's vulnerable children are met. Get more information on Save the Children's important work in Pakistan and other areas of the world.

Community Service Center, Inc. was awarded a grant from The Relief Project, on behalf of the band Dispatch, for their ongoing support programs that provide assistance to ex-incarcerated individuals and their families. For decades, CSC has assisted ex-offenders of the New Orleans area to become productive members of the workforce, their communities, and their families.

The Relief Project's grant will go to help fund the program "Someone to Watch Over Me" – a "children of offenders initiative" that provides mentors for kids of incarcerated parents, in addition to case management for the caregivers and incarcerated parents as the prepare for release. For more information on this important program that is struggling through the aftermath of Katrina, please contact Octavia Edinburg.

These grants would not have been possible without the overwhelming support and generosity of all the fans and artists involved with the Relief Project. Don't forget though, it's only just begun! With every CD, T-shirt, and sticker you buy, and through every show you attend, you are helping make this world a better place. So thank you again for your support, for standing with us, and for helping us to spread the word and music!