An Invitation

Dear Colleague:

We would like to invite you to join the Partnership for Children's Health and the Environment in order to help build a stronger movement for children's environmental health nationally and internationally. There are no requirements for membership. By simply signing onto the enclosed Guiding Principles (see back of this letter), you will demonstrate your shared commitment to these fundamental rights we hold for our children.

The Partnership coalesced out of the Children's Environmental Health Summit in held in September 1999. The 30 researchers, health care providers, environmental health and justice advocates who gathered at this first meeting subsequently co-drafted the Guiding Principles. Since then, the Partnership has grown to include over 275 organizations and individuals committed to addressing children's environmental health concerns by sharing information on current and emerging research and advocacy initiatives, incubating new ideas and opportunities, envisioning goals for the field and determining steps we might take collectively to reach those goals.

As a member of the Partnership, we would welcome you at our face-to-face meetings as well as your participation on our listserv and conference calls. Please note that some organizations within the Partnership may choose to work together on a specific initiative or jointly endorse a piece of legislation, but this would not imply that all organizations that have signed on to the Partnership's Guiding Principles support the specified action. Instead, those organizations that decide to collaborate will simply be listed individually and as members of the Partnership in regards to any activity they undertake.

Please let us know whether you are interested in signing on, or if not, why not – we see this as an ongoing process in learning how to better understand, support and collaborate with as wide a range of groups and institutions as possible. In addition, we encourage you to recommend other groups who you think should be included in this burgeoning endeavor.

Very likely, you are already making a significant contribution to children's environmental health through your organization's programs. We applaud your current efforts and hope you will consider connecting with a host of other organizations working in every sector and every level of society to make the 21st century one in which all children reach their fullest potential, unhindered by environmental pollutants that can undermine their health and development.

If you would like to join the Partnership or have any questions, please feel free to contact me at ph: 360-331-7904; e-mail: emiller@iceh.org. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Elise Miller, MEd
Executive Director, Institute for Children's Environmental Health
National Coordinator, Partnership for Children's Health and the Environment