September 02, 2008

A Sweet New Year

We noted in yesterday’s diary that the month of Elul has arrived and with it the start of the New Year. For most of us, the upcoming holiday will bring family, friends and an excess of food to our tables. Despite the warm temperatures outside, even I have started to put together menus and numbers of guests and the inevitable shopping list which seems to grow daily and never ends.

What do you do when you can barely make ends meet? When putting food on your table for a "normal" meal is a continual struggle? How can you possibly add the sweet extras that are so much a part of the holiday menu? Because of the generosity of some donors, we are now in the process of arranging for extra food allowances for people in both the United States and in Israel. Our agents who work on the frontlines in Israel have identified several families for whom a little extra help in the form of supermarket scrip will mean the difference between celebrating the arrival of the New Year with a bountiful table or one that serves as a sad reminder of the families’ precarious situation.

In the United States, our donors’ generosity will allow us to offer scrip to many Holocaust survivors across the country, who are living their last years with minimal income. They too will be able to shop and prepare more than a modest meal for themselves and any family or friends who may join them in celebration.

We are enormously thankful to those who have stepped forward to allow us to offer this extra measure of joy to the holiday celebration. Yasher koach to all of them!