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November 10, 2008

Mitzvah Goreret Mitzvah (loosely translated as "one good deed leads to another")

A call came to us in early September from Amee Sherer, a friend and teacher at the Community Day School in Seattle. Could we find a worthwhile recipient in the hurricane-ravaged Mississippi-New Orleans area that would benefit from her students’ first tzedakah collection? The only stipulation was that they wanted to help other kids. Sure, we thought, this can’t be too hard – many people, kids and adults alike, are still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina that destroyed so much over three years ago. We asked for a little time to find just the right need and then offered the kids a challenge – we would match whatever they raised, giving them twice the power to change the world.

We made a call to Sue Halpern who lives on the Gulf-coast of Mississippi. Sue has been our guide and advisor for the work we have done in the region and has always been able to find just the right places where our tzedakah efforts would have the greatest impact. Could she find a good "home" for this tzedakah money – a place where kids’ lives would be enhanced? As expected, it did not take long for Sue to introduce us to the new school that was just completed in Hancock County. The Hancock Elementary school replaces three schools in the area that all sustained catastrophic damage during Hurricane Katrina. It took three years to construct this new building and students were moving in on October 14. Give them a few weeks to settle in and Sue was sure there would be many items that the kids could use in their new home.

It did not take long for us to make contact with one of the school’s administrators and just like that – we had a list! First and foremost on the list of needs were overhead projectors for several of the classrooms. School budgets allowed for only so many and there were still six classrooms waiting for this important teaching tool. We knew that the Seattle Community Day School tzedakah along with our matching money would take care of one classroom, but could we do even more? A few phone calls later and a Washington, DC and a Los Angeles-based religious school were on board with their tzedakah and six overhead projectors would be going to Mississippi!

Kids helping kids – just the way it is supposed to be…

November 5, 2008

The Righteous Among Us

We have worked with the Israel-based organization, ATZUM, for many years. Their focus has been not only to help people who have been impacted by terror attacks, but also foreign workers and Righteous Gentiles – non-Jews whose brave actions have been recognized as saving the lives of Jews during the Second World War. Yael Rosen, ATZUM’s dedicated staff person who works with the Righteous Gentiles in Israel wrote me this morning with a story that was at once both poignant and astounding.

A.T., now an elderly woman living in Israel, was from Ukraine and worked as a housekeeper for a Jewish man and his children whose physical appearance allowed them to live unbothered by officials. When that situation was no longer safe, the man and his children moved to another city where they were able to successfully portray themselves as Poles. While in that city, they sent for A.T. who resumed her work as the family’s housekeeper. Prior to this move, A.T. had no idea that the family was Jewish. Once in the new location she continued to work for them acting as if she were the mother and wife of the family, and often protecting their true identity when need be. This arrangement continued until 1944 when the area was liberated. When the war was over the next year, she and the father formally acknowledged the extent of their relationship which had grown from one of convenience to actual love by marrying and migrating to Israel along with the father’s two sons.

Today, A. T. is an elderly woman who requires almost 24-hour care. Her income is meager and her family helps to the extent that they can but the cost of nearly round-the-clock care is beyond their means.

Yael explained A.T.’s situation and provided us with all of the relevant financial information. Could we help? How could we not? The Good People Fund has committed to underwriting several month’s of care for A.T…something which she most definitely deserves.

November 3, 2008

Chicks With Sticks!

A call came in this morning from my dear friend Barbara Silverman, founder of A Package From Home (see diary September 16, 2008 – A Package From Your Home) which provides packages to lone solders serving in the IDF (lone soldiers are young men and women with no family in Israel who volunteer to serve in the army). It was not hard to hear the excitement in Barbara’s voice as she shared the story of "Chicks With Sticks"…a group of Israeli women who enjoy knitting and other handcrafts. When the group was looking for a meaningful project for which they could use their talents, the idea came up to knit warm hats for soldiers serving in the army. It seems that the standard IDF-issued hat was not particularly warm or comfortable and the hat that the group came up with was just perfect…in comfort and style and conformed to regulation standards as well. So, the pattern was shared, knitting started and word spread. The result has been pretty impressive. As Barbara just wrote in an email this afternoon…

Just this past week, "A Package from Home" packaged 175 hats for soldiers serving in Golani and tank units. When they came to pick up the packages and saw the hats they were thrilled. The hats that soldiers currently receive from the army are made of a synthetic fleece-type fabric that’s nowhere near as warm and snug. One of the soldiers asked me to make sure the packages he gets all have hand knit hats.

The hats provide physical warmth and emotional support and we feel good knowing that somewhere tonight, a soldier doing guard duty in the cold will be wearing a warm hand knit hat, made with love.

The weather is getting colder and time is of the essence. Our goal for the coming winter is to get an additional 2000 hand knit hats to lone soldiers serving in combat units. If you are a knitter or know someone who loves to knit and wants to help keep our soldiers warm this winter, please see attached pattern. All hats must be made to pattern in order to conform to army regulations.

The finished caps can be sent to Barbara at 12/63 Keren Kayemet L’Israel Street, Jerusalem, Israel 92428. The best part? The cost of the wool is about $4.00! If you are a knitter or know one, pass this on. It is a great project – quick, easy and cost-effective as well.

Simple Soldier’s Hat, Two Ways

There are two patterns here, one for a hat that can be knit flat on two straight needles and one for a hat that can be knit in the round on a circular needle and/or double pointed needles. The latter method is recommended because it requires less sewing up at the end and tends to look neater.

Yarn: You must use machine washable plain black worsted weight yarn – this is in order to comply with both the soldiers’ requests and army regulations. Look for a yarn that is soft, warm and non-felting. Superwash wool is best, acrylic or a wool/acrylic mix is okay. You’ll probably need about 220 yds. / 200 m.

Gauge: 24 or 28 stitches = 4 inches/10 cm. in K2P2 rib stitch

Needles: Use whatever size needle you need to get gauge. The 4 mm – 5.5 mm range is a good place to start. For circulars, use a small circumference, 12" to 16".

Pattern A: Knit on Two Straight Needles

Loosely cast on 98 stitches and work back and forth in K2 P2 rib as follows:

Round 1 (right side): K1, [K2, P2] until one stitch remains, K1

Round 2 (wrong side): P1, [K2, P2] until one stitch remains, P1

Repeat these 2 rounds until work measures 9.5 inches / 24 cm., ending with a wrong side row.

Shape crown

Row 1: On right side, K1, [K2, P2tog], K1. 74 stitches remain.

Row 2: P1, [K1, P2], P1

Row 3: On right side, K1, [K2tog, P1], K1. 50 stitches remain.

Row 4: P1, [K1, P1], P1

Row 5: K1 [K2tog], K1. 26 stitches remain.

Row 6: Purl

Row 7: K1, [K2tog], K1. 14 stitches remain.

Row 8: Purl

Row 9: K1, [K2tog], K1. 8 stitches remain

Break yarn, leaving a 20-inch / 51 cm. length. With a tapestry needle, thread the yarn through the remaining 8 stitches (pull tight) and then sew up the back seam using mattress stitch, being careful to match up the rows. For help with mattress stitch, see here: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring04/mattress.html, or here: http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/basic_techniques/misc.php

(scroll down to "Finishing" and then select "mattress stitch" for a short video demo)

Weave in the ends and admire your work! Please wash & dry your hat before mailing.

Pattern B: Knit first on a Circular Needle, and then on Double Pointeds

(Or, you can work the entire hat on double pointed needles, if you prefer)

Loosely cast on 96 stitches. Join work, place marker, and work in K2 P2 rib until work measures 9.5 inches / 24 cm.

Shape crown

(Here you begin a series of decrease rounds. When you find the hat getting too small to work on the circular needle, switch to double pointed needles.)

Round 1: K2, P2tog to end of round. 72 stitches remain.

Round 2: K2 P1

Round 3: K2tog, P1 to end of round. 48 stitches remain.

Round 4: K1, P1

Round 5: K2tog to end of round. 24 stitches remain.

Round 6: Knit

Round 7: K2tog to end of round. 12 stitches remain.

Round 8: Knit

Round 9: K2tog to end of round. 6 stitches remain.

Break yarn, leaving a 6-inch / 15 cm. length. With a tapestry needle, thread the yarn through the remaining 6 stitches (pull tight). Weave in the ends and admire your work! Please wash & dry your hat before mailing.

November 1, 2008

Fishing for Life

"My body is tired but my spirit is renewed. I leave with memories of strong, beautiful women and a new experience to build on. I leave with the information that will help me to continue on as a survivor…"

The woman who wrote these moving words was one of the more than 3500 women who have been privileged to take part in a unique form of therapy provided by Casting for Recovery for survivors of breast cancer. CFR was founded in 1996 with the goal of helping women recover, both physically and emotionally, through the unique benefits of fly-fishing…a sport which uses just those muscles most affected by breast cancer surgery. Couple the physical benefits with a weekend retreat in a beautiful natural setting, surrounded not only by other women experiencing the very same turmoil, but also a group of volunteers committed in every way to making the event transformative, and you have a very special experience that can truly change everyone who takes part.

Though the national organization has achieved a great deal of success in the twelve years it has been in existence, we know from our conversation with Jacki Lappen, CFR’s Manager of Volunteer Services that there are several groups in specific geographic areas across the country who have great difficulty in organizing and raising the funds necessary in sponsoring a retreat. The Good People Fund has committed funds to help one of these groups by offering matching funds for "new money" they may raise before year’s end. If they are successful in that endeavor, we will offer the group support to cover their participation in a national meeting scheduled for next Spring which is dedicated to teaching and guiding fund-raising events.

Casting for Recovery is something which every breast cancer survivor should know about. It can bring amazing benefits to those who partake of the experience. Visit http://www.castingforrecovery.org/ to learn more…and when you have checked them out, pass along the URL to someone you may know who has been affected by this disease. It could change a life in many ways.

October 20, 2008

A Safe Haven

Did you ever wonder what happens to all of those hotel rooms that sit empty night after night? Few, if any hotels and motels have 100% occupancy 365 nights a year. In 1991 Naomi Berman-Potash who was working in the hotel industry at the time, asked that very same question. It came to her after she read a news article that discussed the shortage of safe rooms for women who arrive at local shelters for battered women. Naomi thought immediately of the empty hotel rooms she knew were to be found throughout the country, and had the "aha moment!"…why couldn’t she connect the shelters with hotels in their area and solve a serious problem? Naomi knew that there were details that needed to be worked out but they were just that – details, and before long she started Project Debby. Today, more than 17 years since its founding, Project Debby has provided thousands of women with safe haven while hotels throughout this country work in cooperation with local shelters to make it possible.

Project Debby works with minimal overhead and in our last phone conversation with Naomi we heard about her latest successes in getting the program to more cities. We have just sent her some funds to keep her good work going…it is a true life-saver.

October 17, 2008

The Face of Hunger Revisited

A few days ago (see October 12 entry – The Real Face of Hunger) we wrote about the very real problems of hunger facing many people in this country today. Newspapers, magazines…all types of media have reported on the crisis that has erupted since the economic meltdown began earlier this year. We even shared (in the above-noted piece) our own experiences as we hear directly from both individuals who are personally affected and from programs throughout the country that are hard-pressed to provide what is needed in their own communities.

Because of the current situation, the email we received this morning from our friend Syd Mandelbaum of Rock and Wrap It Up! (http://www.rockandwrapitup.org/) takes on particular significance. Syd’s newsletter shared word of several of his organization’s new programs – each designed to address hunger and poverty in creative and meaningful ways. Originally started to retrieve leftovers from performance venues, Syd’s most recent success has been the Federal Food Donation Act of 2008 which requires all federal buildings that serve food to retrieve leftover food from its premises and get it to local agencies that will use it to feed hungry people that they serve. 32 federal buildings in Washington, DC will be actively involved in the inception of this program by working closely with 204 local agencies that will benefit from the leftovers. Syd has also made contact with New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City and five of its hospitals will share leftover meals with local shelters.

We cannot help but think that creative programs such as Syd’s have taken on even greater importance today as we face the difficulties of an economic slowdown. We know that this country produces enough food to feed its citizens – the solution has always been to get it to where it is needed. We believe that Rock and Wrap It Up! is a very important piece of the solution. Take a look at their website to learn more.