Dear friends,

By now, many of you have learned that we have had to cancel our annual Paul Ramsey dinner due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Like many, we are left scrambling to learn a new normal as we try to keep our work moving forward.

To that end, we have rescheduled for April 17, 2021, where Helen Alvaré will be on hand to receive the Paul Ramsey Award. We know many of you who were planning to attend the dinner were so excited to celebrate with her. Also, we have heard from so many of you who are not local, how happy you were the someone like Helen had been selected to receive the award. Given the uncertainty of the next several months, we think this is the safest and best plan that allows us to still gather and recognize Professor Alvaré’s good work.

How does Covid-19 affect the work of the CBC moving forward? First, most of us can and do work from home, so that is a blessing not afforded to a lot of people. Second, as we have a strong social media presence on Facebook and Twitter as well as our email newsletter, we can still reach, educate, and inform people of the issues we care deeply about. Just because there is a global pandemic, it doesn’t mean our issues go away or are less important. I was just reading a news article that was expressing concern for international couples who have U.S. surrogates pregnant with their babies, and their concern around the international travel bans!

We’ve seen good growth in our audience reach on our podcast, Venus Rising, and our films continue to reach hundreds of people each month. Our Paul Ramsey Institute meeting, which had to be cancelled has moved online, where Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, one of our Ramsey Scholars, will facilitate a discussion on “The Ethics of Triage During Pandemics.” The good news, with many more people in quarantine or selfisolation, the internet and technology can always be a useful tool.

The unknowns for the CBC will be how hard the financial hit will be for us.  Already, two of my speaking engagements have been cancelled, each which would have paid a CBC speaker fee and future events I imagine will be put on hold. Our giving will drop because so many of our supporters like you are seeing your finances shrink. While the federal government is making plans for small business relief, through small business loans, there is no relief on the horizon that will benefit the non-profit sector.  My husband reminds me often that CBC is a small business and small businesses are the backbone of the American workforce and economy.

To you, our friends and supporters, during these financially uncertain times, we are grateful to you. If you are able, at this time, to send a contribution of support, I thank you.

We are in this together.

Jennifer Lahl

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