The smile says it all. In Tel Aviv this morning a group of compassionate volunteers from the picturesque town of Zichron Yaakov partnered with the Good People Fund and Tzimaon, one of our grantees, to offer a carnival-like day to dozens of African refugee kids from a local gan (daycare center).  Gideon Ben Ami, our tireless man-of-many-compassionate-talents helped arrange the adventure. The kids who  spend hours daily in a window-less room, reveled in the bright sunshine and the volunteers’ undivided attention. To make it even more exciting, popsicles and a magic act capped off the day.

We’ve already received notes from volunteers attesting to the fun they had and the wish to be part of the next fun day.

We hope it happens soon!

Finally, we had today our first healthy meal in the “Gan”… Every day the kids will have for lunch meat or chicken + carbohydrate (potatoes, rice, couscous…) and vegetables.

Several weeks ago we reported on the good work of one of our new grantees, Tzimaon which was started by Shlomo Artzi and his wife Michal.  This all-volunteer organization believes that those blessed with more economic opportunities should help people who struggle daily to get by. To each of them, this is what Israel should represent. When we learned that the group was involved in a project to help improve the lives of the young African refugee children attending day-care centers in Tel Aviv we agreed to fund nutritious food that would replace the pasta and ketchup meals the kids were currently eating.

This morning  Carmit Elad, the Tzimaon volunteer spear-heading this effort wrote us with this brief report. The kids were not the only ones happy. The Good People Fund is happy, too!

Healthy meals will no doubt make for healthier kids.

Naomi,

We settled!! The family gets to stay! We cannot thank you enough for everything. You will be hearing from them directly, but Ms. T. said this morning that the children kept saying that they would love to meet the wonderful people that saved their apartment, “they’re like Santa Claus” they said. So, thank you thank you thank you thank you.

E.

The writer is a public defender we have worked with from time to time and the family she writes about was but a few days away from losing their public housing.  After years of struggle, Ms. T. has managed to get all of her children back in her care and the family is once again united, hoping never to be separated again.  But, as is often the case, due to the bureaucratic missteps that somehow seem to happen to people who can least handle them, that was exactly what was about to happen.

It is only because of a very generous donor who likes to help keep people in their homes and not in the street or in a shelter, that we were able to pay the public housing arrears and keep this family together.

I guess if Santa could be Jewish we might qualify, but….

Postscript

The next day we received the following update from the attorney who handled this case:

Your intervention saved this family of eight from homelessness and despair, from which it would be impossible to recover. You also saved the taxpayers over a minimum of $8,000 per month by avoiding emergency shelter for the large Taveras family (shelter costs approx $1000 per month, per person), AND you preserved precious shelter placement for other families who may have been turned away or kicked out due to lack of space.

Pasta and ketchup. What kid wouldn’t welcome a daily diet of these two nutritionally “challenged” food items? For the young children who attend one of the dozens of “gans” or daycare center (there are more than 60 of them) set up for the children of African refugees throughout Tel Aviv, that is exactly what they eat each day.

Last month as we were winding down our Israel trip we met two women whose work both inspired us and renewed once again, our belief that there are Good People out there who when working together can change the world. Several years ago Shlomo Artzi (yes, that Shlomo Artzi) and his wife Michal gathered friends and began Tzimaon with the belief that those blessed with more economic opportunities should help people who struggle daily to get by. To each of them, this is what Israel should represent.

With a staff of ten volunteers (all women), no offices and no salaries, Tzimaon focuses on educational opportunities in places like Givat Olga and the Shapira neighborhood in Tel Aviv. In our meeting we learned of the group’s latest project, the brainchild of Carmit Elad, a Tzimaon volunteer. When Carmit visited many of the refugee daycare centers and saw the conditions there she knew she needed to do something. With the cooperation of “Daniella’s Gan”, she brought together both Israeli and African volunteers to turn this dark and sad classroom into a true Gan Eden! (Garden of Eden) Walls were painted, carpets laid, new furniture, computers, toys…whatever they would want for their own children they believed should be there for these children as well.

When the Good People Fund learned about the pasta and ketchup diet it was very easy to agree to a matching grant to provide one year’s worth of healthy, nutritious lunches for the children in Daniella’s gan. It’s what we would want for our own children, why not these?

“It’s an unbelievable feeling that someone is free because of what you did. That’s thanks enough.”

Over the years, how many teachers have inspired us? Introduced us to a world we never knew existed…perhaps, encouraged us to pursue a career that we never would have considered?

When Evan Robbins started teaching almost 20 years ago, he no doubt hoped that he might one day be that teacher and touch a student’s life in a transformational way. We doubt that he ever imagined that one day he would literally save many young lives; lives of young Ghanaian children sold by their parents into a life of slavery to the fishermen working on Lake Volta in that country.

The NY Times article that described the life of one of these children inspired Evan to bring the subject up in one of his social science classes where enthused students decided to raise money to help such children.  The rest, as they say, is history.

From that initial class effort came Breaking the Chain Through Education, an organization whose goal it is to rescue children from slavery. While Evan’s students still work on behalf of BTCTE, the effort expanded beyond the school community when non-profit status was granted.

To date, 40 young people have been rescued, gone through a period of rehabilitation and are now in school. In addition, BTCTE raised enough funds to build a school for 240 children in a remote village. In exchange for the school (and housing for teachers) the village agreed to ensure that no local children would be sold into slavery.

Evan makes regular visits to Ghana as he continues his quest to save young lives. It is no accident that he has received numerous awards for his humanitarian work including the prestigious Reg Weaver Human and Civil Rights Award (last bestowed upon President Jimmy Carter) from the National Education Association.

When we met Evan he inspired us as well and the Good People Fund’s initial grant has made it possible for BTCTE to better tell its story through an improved website and logo.

We also have some even more exciting news – another engaged couple! They have known each other for years and even dated for a while 5 years ago. They sat together during our course this past year and gradually got to know each other better….the rest is history, or rather, the rest is just beginning.

Rabbi Shaul Inbari, whose CP has left him disabled and confined to a wheelchair, often dreamed of coming home each day to a warm and loving partner. Loneliness was forever with him as the years passed. When he one day shared his frustration of living a life of isolation with his dear friend Shalomi Eldar, Shalomi challenged him by suggesting that they publicize a gathering for people with disabilities. Surely there were others frustrated by the lack of social opportunities available for disabled people. Within hours both were inundated with calls of interest and their first meeting attracted more people than they could comfortably accommodate. Clearly these two trailblazers had uncovered a deep unmet need in the world of disabled people. In 2012 they organized Inbar as an official amuta to offer social events as well as courses in relationships and social integration. The group has been bolstered by the efforts of several matchmakers and other volunteers who work hard to promote Inbar’s goals, and today has more than 400 people with a wide range of disabilities registered in their database.

In addition to the latest engagement noted above, Inbar’s work has resulted in other weddings including Rabbi Inbari’s!

We love what Inbar stands for and The Good People Fund offered a matching grant (successfully met) which has resulted in the hiring of the group’s first social worker who will help implement the organization’s goals and provide support and guidance to the growing number of disabled people seeking happiness and love.

Why not?