Friends of Falun Gong of California Holds Banquet to Express Appreciation to Supporters

On the evening of December 1, 2001, Friends of Falun Gong held a banquet in Redwood City to express their appreciation to those who have been supporting the human rights of Falun Gong practitioners. About a hundred people attended the banquet. Falun Gong practitioners prepared delicious food and performed musical programs for the banquet on instruments such as cello, piano, and saxophone. The atmosphere was very cordial and enthusiastic.

Mr. George Li, who is in charge of Friends of Falun Gong of North California, stated that Friends of Falun Gong is a Not- for-Profit organization and its purpose is to stop Mainland China's persecution of Falun Gong. Some videos made by Falun Gong practitioners were shown at the banquet.

Friends of Falun Gong also issued awards to some individuals who provided their support and help to Falun Gong. They are Congressman Tom Lantos and Nancy Pelosi, Mr. Stan Bogosian (congressman for the city of Saratoga), Mayor Thomas Springer of Gilroy, Councilman Chuck Reed of San Jose, San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly, and the human rights committee of Amnesty International in San Francisco.

Congressman Tom Lantos was absent due to his busy schedule. His assistant, Ms. Margery Fawar, represented him at the banquet and read his speech, in which he condemned Jiang Zemin regime's inhumanity and persecution of Falun Gong. He also pointed out that it was very foolish for the Chinese police to beat Western Falun Gong practitioners on Tiananmen Square.

Ms. Margery Fawar, assistant to Rep. Tom Lantos, reads Tom Lantos' speech	Falun Gong practitioner issues an award to Mr. Chris Daly

Practitioner Adam Leining, who went to Tiananmen Square, shows a video clip about the peaceful appeal on Tiananmen Square.

The host also introduced each Falun Gong practitioner, who issued awards to the guests, including a medical doctor, student, engineer, consultant of computer science, and scientist. The delicious dishes also gave attendees a good impression of the cooking skills of Falun Gong practitioners. The banquet was organized by volunteer Falun Gong practitioners. Everyone enjoyed it very much.