Dear Friends,

It has been over a year since my friend and colleague, Tim Hetherington, was killed by a mortar blast in Libya. Since that awful day I have started a non-profit organization called RISC (Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues). It is dedicated to training freelance journalists in frontline combat medicine. It is possible that Tim's life could have been saved if those around him had known what to do, and I want to minimize the chance of something like that happening again.

RISC just completed the first three-day course in New York, and that will be followed by yearly courses in London and Beirut as well. Participants are provided free lodging, instruction and combat medical kits; all they have to do is get themselves to one of our three cities. Now that we have successfully launched RISC, the time has come to raise money for the next sessions. Almost all frontline war reporting is done by freelancers, and they absorb a disproportionate number of casualties. And yet they are often the lowest-paid and most under-resourced people in the news business.

We need to fund upcoming sessions in London and Beirut. Please help us provide crucial, life-saving skills to this group of courageous people… without them, we would have far less information available about the troubled times in which we live.

Donations can be made online here or mailed to RISC c/o The Half King, 505-507 West 23rd Street, New York, NY, 10011.

If everyone who was devastated by Tim's death contributes something, we can easily reach our goal. Tragedies such as Tim's death can be prevented - with your help.

Many thanks to you all.

Sebastian Junger - Director of RISC