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June 05, 2008

Hunger in America and the Internet

Pam Koner, founder of Family-to-Family (see May 8, 2008 diary entry) was in touch this morning.

Pam’s program (http://www.family-to-family.org) has been addressing the problem of hunger in this country in an incredibly direct and creative manner since the organization was started in 2002-03 when Pam read a New York Times article describing food shortages in Pembroke, Illinois.

Since the founding of FtoF, Pam has developed additional programs designed to help people living in poor rural communities across the country. Her latest idea is a Hunger Relief Registry, where donors can utilize the power of the internet to adopt a family and sponsor their food needs for a year. Please read what Pam has sent and consider this simple but very effective way to address the growing hunger crisis in this country…all is takes is a click of the mouse.

FAMILY-TO-FAMILY NEEDS YOUR HELP!

There’s a crisis at our nation’s food banks and F-to-F wants to help. Our friends at America’s Second Harvest tell us that their member food banks across the country are reporting huge increases in the numbers of families coming forward in need of emergency food supplies. At the same time food donations are way down so less food is available to give away. Many food pantries are turning people away altogether, and many others are giving out less food to each person who comes in. People are going hungry.

PLEASE HELP US HELP BY PASSING THIS EMAIL ON TO EVERYONE ON YOUR EMAIL LIST!

Family-to-Family and the Bedford-Stuyvesant Campaign Against Hunger have come up with a "crisis solution" to help these families… The Family-to-Family Hunger Relief Registry… a cyber-adoption program where you and your family will be linked to a family in one of the four desperately poor communities listed on our website’s cyber sponsorship page. …

If you are able to sponsor a family in need of help for one year ($25 per month), please click here Family-to-Family | Sponsor A Family to join our "cyber-sponsorship" program. 100% of your monthly contribution (minus Paypal’s fee of about .80 cents) will be used to purchase groceries every month for 12 months for "your" family.

In an effort to make an immediate impact, please forward this email to your own email list, or to anyone blogging… so that we can, as an extended, grassroots, cyber-community, help feed hungry American families.

June 03, 2008

Going to Israel?

Now that school is closing for the summer and everyone is gearing up for camp or trips, an email I received this morning from Dawn Steirn in Florida reminded me of something any of us could do to make an Israel trip even more meaningful. Dawn and her family are leaving for the Holy Land shortly and in preparation Dawn was in touch with me awhile back to discuss possible ways they could do something that would benefit people in Israel. It didn’t take long for them to decide that they would like to collect school supplies which will be distributed to Ethiopian children in Netanya through the good work of the Forgotten People Fund, an all-volunteer group working to help the very poor families that have settled in that city after arriving from Ethiopia. (http://www.fpf.org.il) Before too long, Dawn’s kids (one had just celebrated his Bar Mitzvah making this even more meaningful) had sent letters to their classmates at the David Posnack Hebrew Day School and the collection started to grow. By the time the Steirns leave for Israel in a few days, they will be carrying a duffel containing precious school supplies.

One phone call to Israel was all it took for me to arrange for pickup at a Jerusalem hotel and the mitzvah was complete!

Nesia tova (a good trip) to the Steirns! You have done a fine thing with this effort.

If others would like to be "mitzvah messengers," (as our good friend George Greene called those who took on this special effort) please be in touch with me. (Naomi@goodpeoplefund.org). We have lots of ideas to share.

June 02, 2008

Saving Lives, One by One

Occasionally, there are conversations that I have which remind me in the most poignant of ways of just how important our work is and how words like "small" or "insignificant" hold no relevance in the tzedakah world. I just got off the phone with Igor Feldblyum, the founder of Am Echad, a small organization based in Maryland. Igor emigrated from the FSU many years ago but has not forgotten the people who remain behind, many of them elderly, alone and sick. It was on a business trip to St. Petersburg almost ten years ago that Igor actually saw the faces of some of these (mostly) elderly Jews and felt compelled to do something. After all, he was lucky-he had been able to leave the FSU, was welcomed to the United States by American Jewry which provided him with what he needed to establish himself and his family. So many others remained behind, destined to live their last years in poverty and isolation.

How could he help? If there was a way to send small sums of money monthly to those who were most vulnerable, perhaps some people could have a better life. It was not long before others who heard of Igor’s visit agreed to be part of a plan to help these people and that was the beginning of Am Echad, a more-than-meaningful name for Igor’s vision to bring some relief to St. Petersburg’s poorest citizens. (make a visit to http://www.amechad.net to learn just how Igor accomplishes this).

As we were ending our conversation, Igor shared that Am Echad is helping almost 90 people right now, most of them single and living alone. They each receive anywhere from $20-$75. depending upon their individual circumstances. When I asked Igor to remind me what it costs to run Am Echad each year he mentioned $36,000 (there is little or no overhead) Imagine–$36,000…how many lives have changed with these modest sums of money? …sometimes we forget-changing lives, one by one is not impossible…sometimes it just takes a vision and the will.

May 27, 2008

Searching For Your Roots: Part III – (see May 21, 22, 2008 entries)

Before we even had a chance to send some funds to Dr. Albert and the Shalom Children’s Fund we received an email from him which included the following letter which he received from his contacts in Kiev. Though we have abridged the letter, we think that what follows surely shows how important Dr. Albert’s efforts are to the children of Kiev.

Dear Moses!

Best regards, G.

Yasher koach to Dr. Moses Albert and the Shalom Children’s Fund!

May 26, 2008

Chicken Delight

Peter Freimark, one of our board members and one of the most creative and indefatigable mitzvah-doers we know, just sent me a link to a story which appeared in the Cleveland Jewish News last week. I knew that Peter had been involved in a big "chicken deal" recently, but the article described the enormity of Peter’s venture with far more detail than I realized. Can you imagine trying to find a place for 22 tons of frozen chicken? (and then, a short time later, finding recipients for an additional 22 tons?) Apparently, for Peter it was not such a difficult task. Read on to see how Peter and Temple Israel Ner Tamid in Cleveland changed many lives with some ingenuity, a little bit of sweat and some big hearts!

Click here: http://ClevelandJewishNews.com — News/Local

May 22, 2008

Searching For Your Roots: Part II – (see May 21, 2008 entry)

I was able to reach Dr. Albert tonight and heard first-hand not only the story of how he got involved in helping children in Ukraine, but also how he eventually founded the Shalom Children’s Fund, the small grass-roots organization through which he channels his energies on behalf of the children. There is nothing very complicated about what Dr. Albert does…with the donations that he receives, he travels to Ukraine every 8 to 10 weeks (at his own expense) and personally meets and accompanies children (who have been identified as in need) to the store where they can select the items that they want to wear. For so many of these children, this is a dream come true. On his most recent trip, Dr. Albert expanded his work and was able to purchase rehabilitation equipment for some kids who are disabled.

We truly enjoyed our conversation and have decided that the Shalom Children’s Fund will be one of the new programs the Good People Fund will help with their work. Talk about hands-on and grass-roots!