Sometimes a request comes to us that might be considered extravagant or unnecessary but we know that often, what could be considered “extravagant” is often exactly the right response to a difficult and harsh set of circumstances. When our grantee, Fraidy Reiss, from Unchained at Last, shared her wish to take many of her clients (all women trying to leave arranged and forced marriages) on a field trip where they might forget the harsh reality of their present lives, we thought, “why not”?
Dear Naomi,
I will call you later, after the sun wakes up, to tell you about the Six Flags trip that you made possible yesterday. But I am bursting right now, so I need to start telling you what an overwhelming “mitzvah” you did.
In total, 28 people joined the trip. They included two women who are in hiding in a shelter and rarely get to leave. A mom… who recently found out her cancer has returned, and who joined with her two kids and their new service puppy.
For two of the forced marriage survivors who attended — a woman from Ivory Coast (there with her 6-year-old daughter) and a woman from Iran (forced into marriage three years ago at age 16) — this was their first visit to a theme park.
The weather was gorgeous. The energy was fantastic. And watching the survivors and their children interact with each other, crossing religious and cultural and language barriers, was overwhelming.
I told everyone that a funder sponsored the entire trip (because several of them asked about the funding), and nearly every one of the 28 people asked me to thank you personally for a wonderful, magical day.
One woman (from the Orthodox Jewish community, who attended with her four kids and a friend who helped with the kids) asked me to explain to you that she and her children have been struggling a lot lately, going through a difficult time. She had tears in her eyes as she told me how wonderful it was for them to forget their problems for a day and just have fun.
You did good.
With warm gratitude,
Fraidy
Indeed, we all “did good” as it was only through the generosity of Good People Fund donors that this trip was even possible.
