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Below are some brief highlights of our work this year:

Photo: Marie Varley/CWS	CROP WALK Millions of people join in or support CROP WALKS each year because millions of people around the world have to walk just to survive. "We walk because they walk" -- in solidarity, in unity, to make a difference. Last year, CROPWALKERS, volunteers, and sponsors in some 2,000 U.S. communities raised nearly $16 million to feed the hungry, protect children, assist uprooted people, and help families and communities around the world help themselves. Of that amount, some $4 million was shared with local hunger-fighting initiatives -- food banks and community gardens across the U.S.

Photo: Paul Jeffrey/ACT-CWS	TOOLS & BLANKETS From blankets, tents, bedding, and other emergency supplies in the wake of disasters, to material assistance, education and training, and small enterprise loans as part of sustainable development programs, some 9,000 congregations and groups across the U.S. hold TOOLS & BLANKETS programs each year, providing more than $3.69 million to help neighbors in need.

Photo: Imam Ahmad Al-Shqeirat	Refugee Resettlement Working with participating denominations and congregation cosponsors, CWS and its network of 42 affiliate resettlement agencies in 25 states resettled 4,637 refugees, including Somali Bantus, as well as about 1,900 Cuban and Haitian entrants in the U.S. in FY 2005.

Photo: Catherine Powers/CWS	"Gift of the Heart" Kits This past year congregations and groups donated $6.85 million in Health Kits, School Kits, Baby Kits, Emergency Clean-up Buckets, and Heart-to-Heart Kids Kits -- helping neighbors at home and around the world with items that may seem small but make a huge difference in ongoing development programs or when disaster strikes.

Photo: Paul Jeffrey/ACT-Caritas	Durable Solutions for Displaced People For refugees, especially the millions who are in camps for years, there is a significant gap between emergency response and long-term development assistance. CWS is reaching out to close this gap through its program to provide post-primary education and vocational training, curative and preventive health care, and access to information sharing for displaced people. For example, in Tanzania's Kibondo region, a poor area that is hosting multiple camps for refugees from Burundi, CWS is supporting Kanembwa Secondary School, where about 400 students are enrolled. Some graduates have gotten scholarships and gone on to university.

Photo: Rosa LaVecchia/CWS	Protecting children in the Americas CWS is working with partners who assist street children and other at-risk children and youth in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Uruguay. And, together we are formulating a regional strategy in support of at-risk children and adolescents.

Photo: Quinn Kariuki/CWS-JVA	Beginning the Refugee Resettlement Journey Staff of the CWS Joint Voluntary Agency in Nairobi, Kenya, and the CWS Overseas Processing Entity in Accra, Ghana, cross the continent interviewing and processing U.S. refugee resettlement applications from sub-Saharan Africa through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. government.

Photo: Vina Titaley/CWS	Tsunami Recovery CWS is continuing recovery efforts in Aceh province, Indonesia, as well as assisting efforts in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and Somalia. In Indonesia, CWS staff have provided mattresses, CWS Blankets, "Gift of the Heart" Health and Baby Kits, family-size tents, cooking stoves, utensils, fuel, food rations, and tools for rebuilding, and has worked to develop clean drinking water supplies for thousands of tsunami survivors. CWS teams are also addressing the health and psychosocial needs of thousands of people, including children, who are taking part in play and therapy activities to help them recover. In addition, CWS is providing agricultural or fishing equipment and micro-enterprise training to help people regain their livelihoods.

Photo: Paul Jeffrey/ACT-Caritas	School Safe Zones Model schools in Kenya, part of the CWS Africa Initiative, are sparking momentum toward a nutritious meal, a safe environment, and adequate educational resources for children in Africa’s most challenged regions. The Africa Initiative focuses especially on children, people living with HIV/AIDS, and the uprooted. It seeks to address root causes of hunger and poverty, and gives specific attention to the needs and rights of African women and girls.