Panyijiar Annual Community Meeting Outcome – Jacksonville, Florida

Panyijiar community members in the United State met on Saturday, December 27th, 2008. The meeting this year was hosted by the members in Jacksonville, Florida. The city of Jacksonville has five members who are from the Panyijiar community. The community members who came from various states decided to converge in Omaha, NE so they could drive together as a team since the journey to Jacksonville was going to be quite a long one. The journey began on Christmas day and by Friday morning, December 26, the journey ended at the doorsteps of the members in Jacksonville. We were warmly received and were so glad we made it just a day before the meeting.

In comparison with prior annual meetings, the Jacksonville meeting was quite an exceptional one. Upon our arrival, we took a nap for few hours and were taken to the Jacksonville Beach after a warm satisfying meal prepared by a friend known to the members in Jacksonville. On the beach we saw the beautiful Atlantic Ocean with all its waves coming as far outward to the beach line. We then took a tour of the city and ended the tour at Jacksonville landing where we saw a giant Christmas tree and had a mini-view of the ocean. We stayed there for a while and then decided it was time to go home and rest so we could get ready for our meeting the next morning.

The next morning, we headed to a Lutheran church where we held our meeting. The meeting was meant for the board of directors to report to the community members their annual community progress and to discuss issues that required attention.

Two Thousand and eight has proven to be a very productive and a blessed year for the Panyijiar Community as well as the Panyijiar Community Development Services (PACODES), the mother organization. The organization has created more awareness and made more leads this year than any other year. Various fund-raising and friend-raising events were made this year, which generated more awareness for the organization and at the same time generated more revenue than we’d planned. This year alone, five (5) major events took place. In May alone, there were two (2) events that were conducted. They included a fundraiser event (Book Bash) in Fargo, ND at Ramada Inn Hotel and a WalkSudan Rally in Peoria, Illinois. Another WalkSudan Rally event was done in Chicago, Illinois in June and another one in October in Fargo, ND. The WalkSudan events were done in cooperation with Endless Eye Production, a not-for-profit organization that only specializes in documentary film production. Then in December a brilliant online fundraiser was conducted and was called “Library MoneyBomb”. This event, which was done within a matter of hours, generated close to almost $ 6,000.00 alone. So, the overall revenue raised in 2008 alone by PACODES is about $ 65,000.00.

The fact that we’ve raised this amount boosted the morale of the community members during the Jacksonville meeting. They only hope that we can raise this much again in the upcoming year, 2009! In order to raise the above amount or go beyond that target, the community agreed to create more individualized awareness in their respective states within the United States and do more fundraising events as they could in their respective cities.

The greatest accomplishment this year isn’t the money the organization has raised but the friendship and cooperative efforts we’ve establish with various individuals and organizations. We only hope that the relationships we’ve built will be long lasting.
The community members recognized and appreciated the entire PACODES’ board of directors for a job well done!

Last but not the least; the community has agreed that the next meeting will be held in Kansas City, MO on December 26, 2009.

Finally, the sons of Panyijiar wishes all a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Written by;
Gat-kier Machar,
Secretary
January 5, 2009