The November 18^th Living Memorial Food Fund continues to grow steadily, albeit modestly. Total funds raised as of October 6, 2005, are $1,745.

The fund was established after the 25^th memorial date of the deaths in Jonestown, with all proceeds going to the San Francisco Food Bank.

I wish to thank the playwrights of The People's Temple, as well as the Berkeley Repertory Theater for their compassion and support of this endeavor. The November 18^th Living Memorial Food Fund was featured very prominently in the playbill during the play's opening run. The playwrights continue to be supportive of this effort, and I am hopeful that the food fund will be mentioned in the playbill for the upcoming Guthrie Theater production, as well as in the playbills for any future productions

The home page for the food fund can be found at: http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/nov18_foodfund/index.htm.

I ask all who read this, especially those who were members of Peoples Temple, to make a contribution to this effort. The issues of social injustice and racial inequality are as real today as they have ever been. It is not a secret that wealth in the United States continues to flow upward; for the fourth consecutive year the numbers of people living below the poverty line has increased. These numbers don't begin to reflect the even larger number of people living just above the poverty line. The devastation left by hurricanes Katrina and Rita puts even greater pressure on charitable resources.

No matter the shortcomings of Peoples Temple, either individually or as a group, the commitment to helping those less fortunate and to creating a more egalitarian society was both genuine and deep. I hope that the November 18^th Living Memorial Food Fund will bear fruit as a tribute to those who died in Jonestown and their humanitarian beliefs. Please contribute.

(Tim Carter is a Jonestown survivor, and a regular contributor to this report. His other articles in this year's report are Surviving Katrina and People of Jonestown Find Voice on Stage.)