progressive democrats of america

Maggie LePique and special co-host Alan Minsky, former PD of KPFK Radio and currently the Executive Director of Progressive Democrats of America, discuss the crisis in Ukraine with President and CEO of Operation USA, Richard Walden. 

Operation USA is a Los Angeles-based international disaster relief and development agency helping communities at home and abroad overcome the effects of disasters, disease, violence and endemic poverty.

42 years–101 countries.
Since 1979, Operation USA has worked in 101 countries—delivering over $450 million in aid for relief and development projects around the world.

 Small, agile and effective.
Operation USA is a hands-on agency with a small, dedicated staff overseeing our projects and disaster response work. Free of the bureaucracy and overhead of a larger organization, creative solutions allow us to respond to real needs in real time. As Founding Board member Julie Andrews says, “Operation USA is the little ship that gets in the harbor where the big ships cannot go.”

 Privately funded from day one.
100% privately-funded, Operation USA works without any government financial support—or the constraints that support may bring.

 Changing lives at home and abroad.
Disaster relief is most often associated with the developing world–but, since our earliest days, Operation USA has dedicated a portion of our efforts to projects here at home. And, as needs have increased, in some years as much as 50% of our work is done in the USA.

 In it for the long haul.
In most cases, the effects of disasters are not limited by time. Years after a disaster has abated, communities are still frequently in need of assistance. Committed to rebuilding, Operation USA stays in the field long after many others have left. Long-term projects help rebuild lives and livelihoods.

 Focusing on education and health.
Education may be the single most cost-effective kind of aid. It opens minds, builds futures and provides youths with the tools they need to succeed. Enhanced health care lengthens lives and transforms communities. At Operation USA, we support these life-changing programs so that children and families can recover, grow and thrive in the wake of disasters.

 Every donation—large or small—makes an impact.
When you donate to Operation USA, you immediately start to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most.

Source: https://www.opusa.org
Source: https://pdamerica.org/


This episode is from an archive from the KPFK program Profiles adapted for podcast.

Host Maggie LePique, a radio veteran since the 1980's at NPR in Kansas City Mo. She began her radio career in Los Angeles in the early 1990's and has worked for Pacifica station KPFK Radio in Los Angeles since 1994.