FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Glenn Rosenkrantz
Glenn.rosenkrantz@gmail.com 646-245-8975
July 27, 2020 – The Good People Fund (GPF) today announced more than $2.1 million in grants to support grassroots organizations in the United States and Israel designing, practicing and advancing unique approaches to challenging social and humanitarian needs.
From pursuing food justice and caring for elders, to resettling refugees and responding to the growing economic and social devastation of the coronavirus pandemic, the grants underscore GPF’s mission to enable visionaries committed to creative, replicable ways to uplift individuals and communities, and address new and deepening needs.
“Each of our grantee organizations is led by a spectacularly ‘good person,’ who through life experience has seen a need and a unique, often untried way to address it. Each is dedicated to a vision and roadmap toward making positive change and teaches us how powerful a commitment to tikkun olam, repair of the world, can be,” said Naomi Eisenberger, GPF Co-Founder and Executive Director.
“In 2020, we are seeing emergent and untold needs and realities across the not-for-profit sphere, due to a global pandemic touching everyone and laying bare the weaknesses and vulnerabilities within our societies. I am heartened by the nimbleness and resourcefulness of our grantees, who in partnership with GPF, are making new and meaningful impact through the lenses of their missions.”
Since its establishment in 2008, Millburn, NJ-based GPF has raised over $18.2 million and helped 205 non-profit organizations in Israel and the United States. In the fiscal year ending June 30, GPF raised nearly $2.7 million.
GPF targets change-making initiatives in crucial areas, including coronavirus-focused aid and relief, poverty, inclusion, health and well being, women’s and girls’ empowerment, welfare of children and youth, care of elders, hunger relief, food rescue, support of refugees, safe and respectful Jewish spaces, and fighting anti-Semitism and hate.
A full list of grantees appears at www.goodpeoplefund.org. Among the new organizations receiving GPF grants are:
City Strings, Roxbury, MA – City Strings provides free cello lessons and performance opportunities to youth in underserved communities in urban Boston, using the power of music to instill in children and teens discipline, teamwork, respect, and accountability, and give them tools to reach for futures of hope and accomplishment. GPF’s grant will support staffing costs.
Detroit Horse Power, Detroit, MI – Detroit Horse Power offers the city’s at-risk youth opportunities to learn critical life skills – perseverance, empathy, responsibility, confidence, and self-control – by learning to ride and care for horses, and is strengthening Detroit neighborhoods through development of an urban equestrian center. GPF’s grant will support a managing director position.
For Good PGH, Braddock, PA – For Good PGH designs and drives community-building initiatives promoting diversity, inclusivity and empowerment in and around Braddock – an economically challenged town near Pittsburgh – including the Free Store, which collects surplus and donated goods and redistributes them to people in need. GPF’s grant is supporting needed repairs of the Free Store and purchase of food gift cards for residents of the area impacted by COVID-19.
Heart 2 Hart Detroit, Detroit, MI – The organization takes a holistic approach to addressing homelessness in the Detroit metro area, distributing essential items such as food, clothing and toiletries to people who are homeless and others in need, and also connecting them to community service groups, rehab facilities, estranged family members, and potential employers. GPF’s grant allows the purchase of food and bus tickets for those served by Heart 2 Hart.
Pittsburgh Interfaith Evolutions / 2 or Seder, Potomac, MD – 2 for Seder addresses anti-Semitism and hate at the grassroots level, facilitating interfaith Seders to eradicate biased attitudes and general ignorance through newfound exposures and personal relationships. GPF’s grant covers technology and website expenses as the organization expands its reach.
The Warehouse NJ, Millburn, NJ – The Warehouse NJ helps individuals and families who have experienced homelessness and displacement to transition into new homes and lives with donated furniture, household items and other essential needs. GPF’s matching grant is directed at operating expenses.
Tribe Talk Connection / Know Before You Go, Newton, MA –Know Before You Go is an online community for high school juniors and seniors and their parents to be educated about how to navigate Jewish life – and defuse anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish sentiment – on college campuses. GPF’s matching grant supports website design and podcast production.
MARVA, Jerusalem, Israel – MARVA works to preserve safety, dignity and freedom of Israelis – seniors and others – facing difficulty caring for their own affairs and needs, and empowers them by combining legal and welfare services. GPF’s grant helps to cover MARVA’s operating expenses.
The Good People Fund, founded in 2008, is excited and inspired by ordinary people with extraordinary drive to make deep, uplifting impact in communities in the United States, Israel and elsewhere around the world. We find them, support them, counsel them … and watch as lives are changed and new and creative ways of addressing seemingly intractable social and economic challenges take root and flourish. Our driving value is tikkun olam – repair of the world – and our extended family of visionaries, supporters and donors embrace the notion that small actions lead to huge impacts.
