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It doesn’t really matter where you live; a new Harry Potter movie is an irresistible attraction to kids (and adults) throughout the world. As the Hanukkah week was coming to an end the kids at Beit Hayeled (A very special small home we have written about many times. Here, kids who are removed from their parents by the Israeli courts have a chance to live in a loving, supportive environment under the watchful care of Yitz Feigenbaum and Irit Zucker) were treated to a holiday gift from the Good People Fund and several donors. The "gift" was an outing to the mall cinema where everyone enjoyed popcorn during the movie and pizza, soda and ice cream for dessert. We heard that the kids gave the movie four stars and are looking forward to the sequel.

Meanwhile, in Jerusalem 26 kids who come from very poor families in the Baka neighborhood were each presented with gift certificates by Karyn and Zehava who head up a group of neighborhood volunteers who provide monthly food packages to several families struggling to put sufficient food on the family table. Immediately after we completed the purchase of the certificates, Karyn sent the following:

We felt very good about the generous vouchers and the idea of letting the children choose their own toys, given the fact that they are now older and it’s more difficult to decide what they would enjoy.

Thanks for making it possible. You added a lot of joy to these families’ lives this Channukah. Sometimes the basic food items are simply not enough.

It was our pleasure to act on behalf of the Good People Fund’s donors…

It is with a deep feeling of thankfulness and wonder that I sit down this morning and write you this thank-you note. There aren’t enough words for me to express the way you have made this family feel. Thank you most kindly for the water heater. It is something we will use daily and daily we will be reminded of your kindness and generosity. It will be a reminder to us that there are some very wonderful, good people in this world that care for those in need. There are times in life that a person loses all hope, in fact that happened to us and just when we were going to fall and give up you stretched out your hand and helped us up…

The Smith’s*

The writer is the wife of a veteran soldier who is 100% service disabled with a severe seizure disorder. Randi Cairns of Home Front Hearts shared their story with us a few weeks ago and when we learned how this family of four was managing we decided to help. In addition to heating water on the stove to take baths, the family had just saved enough money to install a wood stove to heat at least part of their rustic home set in rural Arkansas. With personal expenses mounting and disability payments decreasing it has become impossible for the family to manage and the coming holiday season will be one with few if any gifts. When Randi shared everyone’s wish list we were not surprised – mixed in with a few personal items like books and clothing were electric mattress pads, warm blankets, flannel sheets…clearly staying warm is on everyone’s mind.

So, in addition to the hot water heater which we purchased the other day, new warm comforters, sheets and some other items from the wish lists are also on the way.

As Linda Smith, the Mom, wrote in one of her emails…These hardships happen in life and we will get back on our feet again. It is just a matter of time. We are happy that the Good People Fund was able to warm the holidays for this special family and hope that the "time" she refers to is really just ahead.

*The family name has been changed.

He’s a young man. His name is Zak and, like most other young Israelis, he has seen active duty as a soldier in the IDF.

Zak’s story, though, takes a sharp turn after he returns from serving in the First Lebanon War. It seems that the only way he can "tune out" the sounds and the images of the war is to surround himself with loud music. And that is how he arrived at the Israel National Therapeutic Riding Association a mere ten weeks ago to begin his therapeutic riding sessions. Anita Shkedi, INTRA’s founder, sent us this picture about an hour ago – she had taken it just as the sun was going down at INTRA’s site along the Mediterranean.

Zak’s war experiences left him with severe PTSD. For nearly ten years he rarely slept, his brain was always running, medications left him disoriented and some medical treatments actually put him in an even worse state. When he came to Anita not even three months ago, the only way they could get him up on a horse was to surround him with music blaring from the arena’s loudspeakers. Time – time was what Zak needed and slowly, after three weeks, he began to appear regularly for his sessions and the loud music no longer accompanied him. The horse became his friend and calmed him. When Anita sent this morning’s email and picture she was in awe of the changes she was seeing right in front of her eyes. Zak was laughing, sitting around INTRA’s grounds chatting with others, lighting up his cigarette. She felt that she was looking at another person and again marveled at the miracles that man and animal can foster.

What better way to approach the lighting of the first Hanukkah candle?

Postscript:
A few hours after posting this and sharing it with Anita, she wrote back:
Tonight I gave him the pictures of him smiling while on the phone. He said it’s all because of the horse. He asked me if he could come in a week on another day, just to be here. — I am very happy.

Without a doubt, the best part of the work that we do is the amazing people we meet along the way – the "good people". But – along with the highs that come with interacting with such Giants is the sadness that comes when they die. This week one of the very best has died. On Tuesday Herman Berman, founder of the Bagel Brigade in Los Angeles passed away at the age of 90.

We should not have been surprised. In the more than ten years that we knew Herman every conversation included mention of his beloved wife Annie who he lovingly cared for over the years of her long illness. Two weeks ago we traveled to Los Angeles to meet Herman and his fellow Bagel Brigade volunteers (as well as several other Good People Fund programs). The day before our scheduled meeting with him we learned that Annie had died only a few days before and despite his grief, Herman declared that "life goes on" and we should proceed with our plans to meet him at his home. Regardless of the passing of several years since we last met, Herman was the same. Yes, he had aged but the sparkle in his eyes and his clear mind were evident. When his grandson and great-grandson stopped in for a brief visit, there was such a palpable resonance of love and adoration radiating between them that you could feel it in the room. When Herman asked us for assurances that the Bagel Brigade would continue in the event that he died, everyone agreed. As our visit came to an end and I bent over to say good-bye, I did not doubt that this would be our last interaction and that somehow, now that Herman had heard from everyone that his work would go on, he was free to join his beloved Annie. Thirteen days later he did just that.

Who will ever know how many people – kids, adults – in the San Fernando Valley went to bed with a full stomach because Herman remembered his early life when food was not so plentiful. It was those experiences that compelled him to begin the Bagel Brigade which gathers volunteers each day to collect leftover baked goods from retail markets and deliver them to local schools, pantries and shelters where they will nourish hungry people. To Herman it was just the right thing to do and so he just did it!

This morning’s call was one of those that we have come to dread. Sadly, for the third time in the past ten months we were asked to help underwrite funeral expenses for someone whose family was unable to provide a proper burial.

It was only last January when we received a call from Pam Koner founder of Family to Family, which directs its work to helping people who live in poverty in rural communities around the country. In that call, Pam shared the tragic story of a young child in a Navajo community who had been killed in a fire that engulfed the family’s trailer home.

Today’s tragedy, in this very same community, involved a single mother of five children who walked out of her home to visit a neighbor and disastrously fell into a nearby arroyo (creek.) Already somewhat disabled by severe arthritis and other ailments she was unable to get herself to safe ground and in the night’s 19 degree temperature, froze to death. It was only by the light of day that a neighbor came upon her lifeless body and called for help.

Today there are five children who are orphaned with no immediate support. The mother’s Social Security disability will come to an end leaving the family with no income or food stamps.

Now, who will help?

Anyone in this country familiar with prescription drugs and Medicare knows that there is a gap between the initial coverage limit and the catastrophic coverage threshold. This gap has been dubbed the "donut hole" and for many people it has become a serious problem.

In Israel, there may be no "donut hole" but there is definitely a gap between what National Insurance puts into its medication "basket" (drugs that are covered by insurance) and what many people actually need to maintain their health or even survive their illness. Our friends at The Forgotten People Fund in Netanya are dedicated to helping that city’s significant Ethiopian population in many different ways and a recent exchange with them alerted us to the needs of four individuals who require medications that they could not otherwise afford.

One young woman suffers from a disfiguring skin disease which has turned her into a hermit, depressed and withdrawn. With elderly parents and the family on welfare, the medication that she needs to help with her condition is beyond her reach. Another, a diabetic, has had both of his legs amputated due to the disease, and requires special liquid nutrition to help him regain some strength and stamina. The cost is such that the family can buy only one can per day while he requires more than five. He lays in bed, literally wasting away while his family looks on in frustration.

In each of these cases and two additional ones, the Good People Fund has sent funds that will provide four people with more than a 7 months’ supply of their medication and perhaps also, some hope.