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Who would have imagined that there would be a market for datil peppers, one of the hottest varieties ever grown. We’ve just returned from a visit to Veterans Farm in Jacksonville, Florida where we saw thousands of pepper plants flourishing in the greenhouse purchased by the Good People Fund this past Spring.

Adam Burke, Veterans Farm founder, was everything we imagined–a leader who radiates warmth and compassion to those around him. Adam returned from Iraq with severe PTSD, TBI (traumatic brain injury) and a Purple Heart. Despite those very serious injuries he vowed to help others and give back, if he made it home alive. Recovery was slow and difficult but when he returned to farming, something he grew up with on his family’s blueberry farm, a new calm and sense of well-being came over him. If working the land was therapeutic for him, why not for others?

Today, Veterans Farm grows not only those hot chili peppers, but also blueberries and other fruits and veggies. Working the land with Adam are several fellows who receive a stipend for a six month fellowship. We met a few of these vets and came away understanding just how effective and meaningful working the land can be.

With the ever-increasing number of soldiers returning stateside with severe emotional disabilities, Adam’s model offers a program that can restore a sense of well-being and calm. From our own few hours on the farm we would have to agree.

Naomi & Steve-

Thought this might brighten your day…it did mine.

We could not be happier that the thousands of dollars worth of food that was delivered to the McRoberts community is getting exactly where it is needed.

I once again am at a loss for words on how to thank you for everything that you have done for our small community. I am always overwhelmed at the love and generosity that is shown by all of you…

We delivered and handed out to 34 families yesterday…The food that you purchased fills the belly-but the love you share feeds the soul. To me, that means so much more. As both of you know, there are a lot of people here without a lot of hope in their lives, they go day by day just trying to survive the best way they know how and then suddenly ANGELS appear…and they are reminded, good people do exist.

A small group of volunteers returned to the tiny town of McRoberts, Kentucky last week to continue our work in this rural community, deep in the Appalachian Mountains. In addition to painting and repair of a modest home belonging to an elderly couple with many serious health issues, we also made an unforgettable trip to the local supermarket where we filled many baskets with thousands of dollars worth of much-needed basic food items.

Despite the length of the journey to reach the region, we do not doubt that everyone who joined us came away touched not only by the warmth and appreciation of those we helped, but by the fact that they really did make a difference.

Dear Naomi,

PS FYI – This is the girl you also have helped with her speech therapy. In fact we are going on Thursday so the therapist will help prepare her for her reading of the Bat Mitzvah speech. Something she could never have dreamed of pulling off without the therapy – thanks to all of you at the Good People Fund!

The kids who live at Beit Hayeled in Israel have not had an easy life. Removed from their families by the courts, each has endured abuse and dysfunction from an early age. It is only when they experience the love and the firm compassion of Yitz Feigenbaum and Irit Zucker, the home’s founders, that they have a chance to blossom. The Good People Fund is always happy to help out when we can and knowing that this young girl will be able to deliver her Bat Mitzvah message with confidence because of the speech therapy we underwrote, makes it all worthwhile. Mazel Tov to all!

Sometimes a request comes to us that is at once so simple and yet profound, with numerous implications.

A morning email from one of our Israeli contacts requested some help for two young Ethiopian women from the Falash Mura community. The young women are part of a program that fosters volunteer work, education and leadership training.

The request?

While still in Ethiopia custom dictated that the Falash Mura were tattooed with the mark of a cross on the forehead and hand. Whether this was to avoid persecution by Christians is up for debate, but several years ago the Chief Rabbi in Israel did accept the aliyah of this group. These two young women have these markings and as a result are ostracized not only by their peers but also by the children in the schools where they volunteer.

Ethiopian absorption in Israel has been a difficult process. Despite the passing of years, the group, for the most part, remains economically challenged and often hold the most menial of jobs.

How much more difficult successful absorption is for these two young women, marked with the sign of the cross? How modest a cost it would be to perhaps change their lives forever by undergoing a relatively simple, though painful process that removes the tattoos?

How could we not?

How true it is when we say that a picture is worth a thousand words…

By the strangest of circumstances we received this picture early this morning from someone we did not know. They were fortunate enough to be part of the volunteer corps who helped the Rabbanit Kapach pack the thousands of Pesach packages she distributes to needy families in Jerusalem. The Good People Fund’s donation provides for a significant portion of the thousands of pounds of matzah that go into those packages.

We always wanted to see what happened at the packings…now we all can! Sort of makes our own holiday preparations pale in comparison!