With four days to spare before its goal date, the UCC's "100,000 for Peace" campaign has exceeded its hope of raising $100,000 before Jan. 6 to support Iraq War refugees.

As of January 2, $105,505 had been collected in less than six weeks to provide humanitarian assistance to some of the 4 million Iraqis that have been displaced by the war. During the last two days of 2007, more than $21,000 in year-end gifts were contributed electronically at ucc.org/100kforpeace in order to push the campaign over its stated goal.

In late November, as part of a next phase effort of the church's 100,000 for Peace anti-war initiative, the UCC's Collegium of Officers set the Jan. 6 fundraising goal date because of its symbolism. Jan. 6 is the day celebrated as Christmas Eve by Iraq's largely Orthodox Christian community. For western Christians, Jan. 6 is the day of Epiphany.

Gifts to the fund will be used to provide food, water, health care and education for war-affected Iraqi families displaced in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. The UCC/Disciples' Global Ministries is working with international partners in the region, such as Action by Churches Together and the Middle East Council of Churches, to aid those impacted first-hand by war violence. Every dollar contributed will go directly to supporting refugees.

The Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president, said he was grateful for the church's generous and speedy response to the appeal, but urged even more support.

"One hundred thousand dollars was a lofty goal from the beginning, especially given the short time period we proposed for raising that kind of money," Thomas said. "But the $100,000 amount was largely symbolic and we certainly understand that we have the collective capacity to significantly exceed that amount, so there's good reason to expect that more people still will want to contribute. The costs associated with caring for 4 million displaced Iraqis certainly amount to much, much more than $100,000, so that's why every contribution remains important."

According to Peter Makari, the UCC's area executive for the Middle East, a gift of $40 can feed an Iraqi family of four for two weeks.

In addition to online contributions received at ucc.org/100kforpeace, checks can be made out to UCC Wider Church Ministries (note "Iraq Humanitarian Appeal" in the memo line) and sent to Wider Church Ministries, United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115-1100.

In the coming weeks, as members of Congress return to Washington, D.C., after holiday recess, the 100,000 for Peace campaign is also asking its participants to schedule in-district visits to their local offices of the U.S. Senators and Representatives. An online calendar allows people across the church to know about and pray for these advocacy visits as they occur. View the calendar and schedule your visit now.

Church leaders also have called for 100,000 prayers for U.S. service personnel. Hundreds of prayers already have been penned online at http://www.ucc.org/100kforpeace/100000-prayers.html.