Greetings from Workshop for All Beings in Poland! This letter is an appeal for assistance. Our organization currently finds itself in a situation that threatens our basic existence as a voice for the Earth, and we are hopeful you will be able to help us. As most of you know, Workshop for All Beings maintains its head office in an old house in Bielsko-Biala, Poland. The rustic cabin-like house is property of the city government and use of it as office and meeting space has been allocated to Workshop for All Beings for the past 10 years. The house is located in Wapienica Valley, a special protected ecological park that consists of steep ridges surrounding a beautiful valley roughly 6 kilometers wide and 8 kilometers in length. The valley itself is protected thanks to the efforts of Workshop for All Beings in the days when we were a new organization. Our office is secluded within the valley, adjacent to a dam and a reservoir holding drinking water for the city of Bielsko-Biala, and about 1.5 kilometers from a bus stop at the end of the valley. The office setting is picturesque, inspirational to our work, and a perfect example of what Workshop for All Beings is striving to protect. The building serves as an office for 7 staff members plus volunteers, a meeting place for regular staff meetings and annual Advisory Council meetings, and a convenient base for workshops conducted in the surrounding forest. We take care of the house with regular cleaning and seasonal chores. The forests and wildlife of Wapienica Valley make it an immensely popular place for walkers during weekends, and Workshop for All Beings takes advantage of our great office in a wonderful location to educate the public, gain new members, and strengthen our projects and campaigns. However, despite the success was have experienced while working in this office for ten years, Workshop for All Beings recently learned that we will be kicked out in the end of October 1999! Within the past several months, Bielsko-Biala has acquired a new City Council, which is responsible for providing office facilities to Workshop for All Beings and other non-government organizations. The 20-member City Council has decided that the house will be used for other purposes, on the basis of general dislike of environmental initiatives and the reasoning that no income is currently being generated from the use of the house. We do not know who will replace Workshop for All Beings in the house, nor are we completely confident that the City Council would provide an alternate office for our organization. In any case, we do not want to lose our office! We ask that you take a few moments to write a letter to the Bielsko-Biala City Council and request that they maintain the office for Workshop for All Beings. Your international pressure will be especially strengthening to our efforts to secure our office. Every member of City Council must be informed of all incoming mail and therefore will receive the content of your letter.

You may simply begin your letter 'Dear Council Members' and please make reference to our long-standing use of this office space and the effectiveness we have found as one of Poland's leading environmental organizations. Our goal is to gather enough domestic and international support for our cause to have the City Council decide to allow Workshop for All Beings to continue in our present office. The address of the City Council is:
Rada Miasta,