Thursday, March 18, 2009 » McConn Coffee Co. hosted a benefit concert on March 13 for Muhammed Adnan, a little boy from Iraq with a congenital heart disease. The money went directly to Preemptive Love Coalition, which funds heart surgeries for children like Muhammed.
The concert featured performances by beat-boxer Trevor Heyd and bands Desert Neighbor and Mazatlan: The Band. A total of $150 was raised that night, and donations will be accepted until Easter break.
Hannah Brunner (jr), who organized the concert, became excited about PLC�s work in Iraq after visiting the organization�s Web site.
�The reason I think I�m drawn to Preemptive Love is because it�s based in Iraq and it�s this problem that�s in Iraq,� said Brunner.
�[Americans] maybe haven�t made things so great in Iraq � [funding heart surgeries] is almost like making amends.�
She added, �It�s like [we�re saying], �I�m sorry this is going on, that this is the way that it�s being solved. But we�re here for you and we�re not afraid to be here with you.��
According to PLC�s Web site, the prevalence of heart disease among Kurdish children in Iraq may be due to Saddam Hussein�s chemical attacks on the people group. Other factors include intrafamily marriage and malnutrition. Whatever the cause, many Kurdish children are born with heart defects.
�I want people to be informed and know that this is a really unique situation and this organization meets that specific thing,� said Brunner.
Jeremy Courtney, PLC�s founder, said that it�s important to be aware of the situation in Iraq, to get the word out about the organization, intern with them (on campus or in Iraq), but most importantly: give.
�I�m sure there is something profound I could say here, but I�m going to cut to the chase: GIVE YOUR MONEY,� Courtney said. PLC�s Web site, www.preemptivelove.org, offers links to donate, T-shirts and hand-made shoes for sale, and all fund life-saving surgeries.
Courtney and his family moved to Iraq with plans to work for a different non-governmental organization, until they saw hundreds of children in their city dying, waiting for heart surgeries that were only available outside Iraq, he said.
�The likelihood that U.S. foreign policy in the 1980s precipitated the use of chemical weapons by Saddam Hussein against the Kurds, and that those chemical weapons are a factor in the high incidence of birth defects�and the reports that U.S. weapons in Iraq since 2003 may be causing similar side effects in newborn children�fill me with a sense of responsibility and joy-filled duty to make things right,� said Courtney.
If it hadn�t been for the plight of just one child in need of surgery, which led Courtney and his team to thousands of children in similar situations, they might not have stayed in Iraq, he said.
�Iraq has beaten us up, beat us down, contributed to the deterioration of various friendships, and revealed major character flaws in all of us,� said Courtney. �We�ve been threatened and blackmailed. We�ve been safe and we�ve been in danger. But at the end of the day, I would trade it in for a more comfortable, predictable life!�
He added, �God is using Iraq to change me � whether or not he ever uses me to change Iraq.�