March 13, 2009, New York: Supporters of The Advocacy Project (AP) are invited to join Beba Hadzic, the Founder and Director of Bosnian Family (BOSFAM), at a fundraising lunch in New York Thursday hosted by famed chef Lidia Bastianich.

The lunch will take place from 12 to 2 p.m. March 19, at Bastianich’s midtown restaurant, Felidia. Tickets are $75, with a the proceeds going to support BOSFAM’s work with women affected by the war in Bosnia.

Ms Bastianich, who specializes in Italian dishes, has been a fixture on PBS cooking shows since 1998. In 2007, she launched her latest show, Lidia’s Italy, and has also appeared as a judge on the program Top Chef. She owns four restaurants nationwide and has also authored several cookbooks. Ms Bastianich was born in Istria, a region which is now a part of Croatia, and often contributes her talents to causes related to the Balkans.

BOSFAM, started in 1992 during the war of agression in the Balkans, provides a gathering place and source of income for women survivors of the conflict through traditional Bosnian carpet-weaving. Many of the weavers lost relatives in the Srebrenica massacre, and have since produced the Srebrenica Memorial Quilt honoring massacre victims.

Ms Hadzic is visiting the United States to show the quilt in the Bosnian diaspora and raise awareness and support for BOSFAM’s work. Her trip is being sponsored by the Heinrich Boll Foundation of North America.

The fundraising lunch is supported by Heinrich Boll, Ms Bastianich, the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University, the Bosniak-American Advisory Council for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and AP.

Felidia is located at 243 East 58th Street in Manhattan. For more information or to RSVP, please contact AP Outreach Coordinator Alison Sluiter.