US Department of State to MATCH Donations To Clear Path!

The U.S. State Department has announced it will match up to $60,000 in contributions made by any grassroots and private-sector donors to Clear Path International�s landmine accident survivor assistance work in central Vietnam.
The matching period will last at least through the rest of 2006. This means contributions sent by mail or on the organization�s website will be eligible for the match from the State Department.

The dollar-for-dollar matching challenge was one of two grants for Clear path International announced by the State Department�s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement. The government agency said it would also contribute $75,000 towards Clear Path�s initiative to construct a rice production facility in Cambodia where hundreds of landmine victims will learn farm-based skills in the coming years.


�This is very exciting news for us,� said Martha Hathaway, Clear Path�s executive director. �It�s the first time we have received assistance for our humanitarian work from the government.�
Since it was founded in 2000, Clear Path International has assisted more than 3,000 landmine accident survivors in Vietnam, Cambodia and along the Thai-Burma border, and it has sent 60 containers of medical equipment and supplies to hospitals in 22 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
All that work during the past six years was funded by individual grassroots donors, charitable foundations, churches, businesses and service clubs, Hathaway said.
�The State Department�s announcement of the matching challenge recognizes the strength of our grassroots and foundation support,� she said. �Now, private-sector donors know their contributions will have an even greater impact because of the government match.�
The $75,000 grant for the Cambodia rice mill project does not require a match from private-sector contributors. The rice mill has already received major private-sector funding from the McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis and the United Nations Association USA�s Adopt-A-Minefield program. Clear Path has now raised $280,000 of the $325,000 needed for the mills completion.
To make a contribution to Clear Path International, please visit www.cpi.org.