On January 14,2009, TheCommunity.com co-hosted a private salon in Los Angeles in support of the Raise Hope for Congo campaign.

We produced the event with our partner organization Enough, the project to end genocide and crimes against humanity, with support from Enough Envoys Javier Bardem, Emile Hirsch, Robin Wright Penn, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Joel Madden, Maria Bello and Mia Farrow.

John Prendergast, Co-chair of the Enough project, and a widely recognized authority on genocide and Africa, spoke, with actor Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild, Milk).

Hirsch spoke about a recent trip to Congo with Oxfam. “This summer I was given the opportunity to travel to eastern Congo with Oxfam, and will never forget the haunting images I saw,” he said. “Internally displaced persons at the IDP camps, children without homes, and horrific stories from the women and young girls… I came back to the United States with an overwhelming feeling that it is up to us all as good citizens of humanity to reach across the world and do what we can to stop these atrocities.”

The capacity crowd included Joel Madden, Nicole Richie, Maria Bello, Anne Archer, Camryn Manheim, Ileana Douglas, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Benji Madden, and many others who came to show their support.

An added touch to the event, Napa gourmet vegetarian restaurant Ubuntu flew in their award winning chef, Jeremy Fox who catered the event. Ubuntu, ongoing supporters of TheCommunity.com and African causes, was selected the Number Two best restaurant in the US by the New York Times last year.

According to John Prendergast “Ordinary Americans can have an extraordinary impact in ending the violence and atrocities against women and girls in the Congo. We are asking everyone to help protect and empower Congo’s women and girls. Multiplied a million times, each individual action will make a powerful statement against violence.

See Raise Hope for Congo for how you can help.

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