Helping Sudan's refugees in their time of need.

It is a massive problem when a genocide like the one in Darfur is going under the radar. News channels and other media outlets have shed little light on the situation. In October 2005, my friend Arielle Wisotsky my brother, David Messinger, and I formed Help Darfur Now, an organization devoted to spreading awareness of the Darfur crisis and to helping the victims of the genocide.

See how YOUR high school can be a part of the change.

The situation in the Darfur region of the Sudan is desperate. The Sudanese government unleashed the Janjaweed militia in February 2003 and, since then, at least 400,000 people have been killed; more than 2 million were forced from their homes and now live in camps in Sudan or in neighboring Chad; and more than 3.5 million men, women, and children rely on international aid for survival. During attacks, the men are killed, the women are raped and villages are burned to the ground.

I'll admit—I originally wanted to go to a screening of the 2006 Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award-winning documentary God Grew Tired of Us so badly because Brad Pitt was listed as one of the producers, and I thought he and Angie might show. They didn't—however, it was still worth the bumper-to-bumper drive up the freeway to where the film screened, followed by a panel discussion at the American Jewish University (AJU) in Los Angeles, California.