He lent his enormous prestige to the effort to induce neutrals to join the unequal struggle.

Rock stars like Sting and Dave Matthews, among others, are lending their names to the effort.

Leading figures in arts philanthropy and education are also lending support to the effort.

I joined him, lending my weight to the effort.

The idea is to lend new weight to the long-muddled effort to end the 27-month-old war.

New resources were lent to the effort, and some executive pay was tied to success in achieving diversity.

Ms. Yeakel, a fund-raiser for women's charities, lent $280,000 of her own money to the effort, but also raised $550,000 from more than 2,600 contributors.

They have even made appeals to local undertakers to lend their cars to the effort.

Margot Kidder lent her voice to the effort.

But demographic trends lend urgency to the effort.