Washington, D.C. -- Congressman Steve Chabot (R-Cincinnati) honored Wyoming High School students recently for their efforts to raise funds and awareness to end the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. Utilizing creative fundraising techniques, Wyoming students raised $3,031, placing them in the top ten of the more than 440 schools competing in the Dollars for Darfur National School Challenge.

“I congratulate all the students from Wyoming High School who got involved in this effort to raise the much needed funds and public awareness for the dire situation in Sudan,” said Congressman Chabot, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “I have had the opportunity to travel to Darfur to view the extent of the humanitarian crisis firsthand. I heard personal accounts of the brutality and violence suffered by innocent people and saw the devastation in their eyes. The involvement of these students will hopefully bring us one step closer to reestablishing peace and stability in Darfur.”

Congressman Chabot meets with Wyoming students Rob Marty and Meera Basu in the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC.

Sponsored by the Save Darfur Coalition, the Dollars for Darfur National School Challenge raised more than $112,000 nationally between last August and this May.  The money raised will be presented to Save Darfur and humanitarian aid organizations operating in Darfur.  By placing in the top ten nationally, the students from Wyoming High School won a trip to Washington to meet elected officials and Darfur advocates.  Wyoming was the only school to place in the top ten for the last two years.

Congressman Chabot traveled to Darfur last August to investigate the Darfur refugee camps and assess the ongoing humanitarian crisis. While there, he met with a number of officials to encourage area governments to work toward resolving the conflict in Sudan and bring peace and stability to the region.