Back to the May 2003 Newsletter Index

 Dear Friend of Defend Life,

I urgently need your help to make our Third Annual Maryland Face the Troth Tour scheduled for July 28-August 1, the same enormous success that our first two proved to be. I'll give you more details in a moment as to how you can help!! "Truth" tours like ours are vitally necessary to overcome the major news media blackout of abortion that's been going on ever since Roe v. Wade way back in 1973.

Last summer, we swept across Maryland, Washington, D.C., Northern VIrginia and Delaware making a total of 18 stops at heavily trafficked intersections. The results were phenomenal as those of you who participated so well remember. At our Westminster stop we had 180 persons holding 100 signs thanks to Vmce Perticone, our dedi­cated captain. At our Frederick and North Baltimore stops, we had close to 100 persons holding signs.

Approximately 190,000 motorists and pedestrians saw our graphic signs of both aborted babies and develop­ing babies in the womb. Some pedestrians told us they had no idea what abortion really was thereby proving just how effective the media blackout and the "dumbing down" of America has been. Many took the pro-life literature we dis­tributed. We know of at least two babies that were saved, one in Westminster and one in North Baltimore. Much of Defend Life's enormous growth over the past two years is directly attributable to the success of our 2001 and 2002 summer tours.

This year, with your participation,financial help and prayers, we hope to build on our past successes.  Let me tell you briefly about our two directors for this year. Nancy Bradford is a serious pro­lifer from Fallston and is a member of beautiful St. Mary's in Pylesville. Her husband Jess is a Baltimore County schoolteacher. Their son Alex is a student at Harford Community College. I fIrst met Nancy at the Bel Air stop of our 2001 Truth Tour. Nancy has overall responsibility for the 2003 tour. She can be reached at 410-557-9153 or at facethetruth@.defendlife.org

Grace Sims is our Washington Area Regional Director and is responsible for all the stops in the Washington area. Grace grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Before becoming a pro-lifer, she was an activist in both the peace movement and JAIL ministry. She is fluent in Japanese, having lived in Japan for six years. Grace was really energized by Joe Scheidler's talk at St. Catherine of Sienna in Great Falls, VIrginia, back in April and called me several days later to inquire about a tour director position. Grace is a member of St. Charles Parish in Arlington where she has become a   good friend of pro-life great Margaret Heckler, former member of Congress, former Cabinet member under President Ronald Reagan, and former Ambassador to Ireland. It was Margaret Heckler who mentored Grace and really "opened her eyes" to the evil of abortion. (May God give you the opportunity to do the same for other good young persons!) You can reach Grace at 703-528-5522 or at facethetruth@starpower.net.

Both Nancy and Grace are real go-getters. Please help them in every way possible when they contact you, such as sponsoring a viewing of the Face the Truth video at your home or church, being a co-captain for a particular stop, providing overnight accomodations, etc.

Actually, I told a "fib" when I said I wanted this year's tour to be "the same enormous success as the first two proved to be." I want it to have at least twice the impact! That's why we will be doing a few things different­ly this year, such as having at least one of Greg Cunningham's Truth Trucks driving around at our 17 stops. We will also be going into downtown Washington (the Belly of the Beast) on Tuesday, July 29, during afternoon rush and into downtown Baltimore on Thursday, July 31 during lunch hour. See the enclosed flyer for additional planned stops. Imagine the impact we can have in Washington and Baltimore, but only if persons like you recruit others who show up in record numbers at these locations.

We need to raise $14,000 to fund a successful tour. This includes $8,000 for director salaries and stipends for college interns who will be calling pro-lifers on our list reminding people them to participate, $800 for the Truth Truck expenses, $700 to rent a cargo van, $1,000 for additional signs, $1,500 for T-shirts and buttons, $1,500 for liter­ature, printing and postage, and $500 for miscellaneous expenses.

Here's how you can help guarantee the success of our 2003 summer Truth Tour:

• Give financially and give sacrificially. Once again this year, because of the tremendous rmancial gen­erosity of Michael and Stephen Peroutka, any amount you give between now and July 26 will be matched dol­lar for dollar up to a total of $7,000. In other words, your donation of $100, $250, $500 or $1,000 will be doubled to $200, $500, $1,000 or $2,000. If you help us raise $7,000 by July 26, it will be doubled to the $14,000 we need to have maximum impact.
• Volunteer as a captain or co-captain for one of our 17 stops which are listed in the enclosed flyer. Captains and co-captains will be responsible for recruiting 50 to 100 persons, which we know is achievable if you organize and recruit well.. Each stop lasts only 90 minutes except for the dowtown Washington stop.
• Volunteer for the core group! We need at least 20 serious pro-lifers like yourself, male and female, adults, teenagers and children, to be part of our core group and be with us for the entire five days beginning on Sunday evening, July 27 and ending in the Baltimore area on Friday evening, August 1. It will be hard, sweaty work, but what an honor to be with such pro-life heroes as Joe and Ann Scheidler, Father Denis Wilde, OSA, and Father Peter West of Priests for Life, all of whom we have been invited to join us. It will be a week you'll never forget as long as you live!
• If you have a passenger or cargo van you could loan us, it would make it much easier to transport our core group and signs. Otherwise, we'll have to rent it. Please contact me at 410-337-3721.
• We need an "on fire" captain and several "on fire" co-captains for our downtown Baltimore stop. So people don't have to be concerned about parking, we may bus people downtown from outlying parish parking lots. We also may use buses for our downtown Washington stop. If you know companies or schools or churches who have access to free buses, please contact us.
• We will need one church along the way each day where we can have Mass and where we can have something to eat and drink and we can refresh ourselves. Remember, July 28 - August 1 is a notoriously hot time.
• We would like to have at least one local priest with us for each day of the tour. Contact me if you could be one of those priests! Without priests, Holy Mass cannot be celebrated!
• Finally, we need families like yours to open up their homes for an evening picnic as well as providing overnight accommodations. Members of the core group will bring sleeping bags so nothing fancy is required. The idea will be to stay overnight close to where we will be starting out the next morning. We also need somebody in the Baltimore-Bel Air area to open their home or church on Friday evening, August 1 for our Victory Celebration and picnic at which some of the great luminaries of the pro-life movement will speak.

Please return the enclosed reply card back with your generous donation as soon as possible and letting us know the various ways you can help. Remember, thanks to the great generosity of Michael and Steve Peroutka, your donations to a total of $7,000 will be doubled! To qualify for the matching grant, make your donation playable to Defend Life and be sure it is postmarked no later than July 26. Please use the enclosed reply envelope.

Finally, remember that almighty God is never outdone in generosity! Whatever we do for Him, we receive back a hundredfold. Thank you for your generosity!

Long live Christ the King!,
signed Jack Ames, Director