Happy New Year from the 1208 Foundation

We already publish a monthly newsletter; it was high time we add it to LinkedIn. That being said, here is our New Year's newsletter:

Happy New Year’s everyone!

If this latest organizational name does not ring a bell, it is because we changed names…again.

Team 11 was formed last November to save a single NMRG team, and the NMRG Rescue Project coalesced in September to save the entire NMRG Program. Our switch to the 1208 Foundation is in recognition of dramatic successes in recent months and a transition to an enduring, long-term mission.

We are far from the largest NGO working the Afghan humanitarian crisis, but we are without question the most potent and rapidly growing. The past year has seen dozens of fellow NGOs fold from fatigue and lack support. As for us, the first two months of our fiscal year have already seen donations exceed (multiplied actually) our total from our first FY. We have also collaborated extensively with RETROGRADE, a Nat Geo documentary chronicling the final nine months before the Taliban takeover. Retrograde is a serious Oscar contender, and this partnership will continue in the months to come.

We are making the most out of everyone’s support:

·???????In past four months, six of the 300 families under our care have arrived in the US, and we’ve employed two of those people in streamlining our accountability practices for guys in Afghanistan.

·???????We are involved with multiple initiatives from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, as well as DoS.

·???????Our “spinoffs” are growing too. What happens when you mix academia and the nonprofit sector with some ornery Green Berets and a humanitarian crisis? You get the Education Underground , a project which has donated 22 computers to recent Afghan immigrants and has begun to incorporate students and faculty of Occidental College to expand it further.

As an organization, we have much to look forward to in 2023. However, I only highlight our successes to instill faith in our supporters that we are making strides in the right direction; this will always be a deadly serious endeavor with massive odds stacked against our people. The Taliban grows ever more vicious in their efforts to hold onto power, and only a few days ago, the younger brother of someone we resettled was murdered in Kabul. We still need every cent that can be spared and have revamped our fundraising mechanism to streamline the donation process. (Click here to donate via the Giving Fund )

I’ll conclude by encouraging you to watch a statement from my friend, General Sami Sadat, the final commander of Afghan Special Forces (Click here for Sami’s Statement ) I chose to share it because those of us in the Afghan-NGO circles have been tremendously disappointed -wounded even- by the apathy we have seen from many in our country, our leaders in particular. But at least we still have our country.

LTG Sadat's proclamation of "Our country is everything we have " in Retrograde should resonate with every person of every nationality, because to lose one's country is something I cannot fathom, no matter how frustrated I might be with my fellow Americans. Even so, as long as we keep pushing, it is not yet the end.

2023 will bring yet more challenges to Afghanistan, and like always, we will be there to meet them as best we are able.

Happy New Year, and De Oppresso Liber,

Thomas Kasza

Executive Director, 1208 Foundation

PS: One might ask?about the significance of the numbers “1208”....

Section 1208 of previous NDAA’s authorized the DoD to “ (U) Provide support to foreign forces, irregular forces, groups or individuals engaged in supporting or facilitating ongoing military operations by United States Special Operations Forces.”

(Declassified June, 2018)