Growing up, how many times did your parents plead–wash your hands!

And yet, we forget that in some cultures the very act of hand washing is foreign and practiced far less often than necessary because of ignorance AND the dearth of actual soap bars.

It was this seemingly simple problem that Erin Zaikis chose to resolve when she began Sundara a few years ago. Sundara focuses on reducing preventable hygiene-related deaths and disease by creating sustainable soap recycling programs for under-served populations worldwide.

As Sundara has grown, several women in the slums of Mumbai have become Hygiene Ambassadors, charged with teaching the community about this critically important function. The women are not only paid a modest sum for their work, but now also receive health benefits thanks to The Good People Fund and our belief in Erin and Sundara’s mission. (Health insurance premiums in India are amazing!)

It’s a cold and dreary day here; a grey sky and impending snow just add to the bleak mix. It is a day like this when a ray of sunshine and some warmth take on even greater significance, and that is what arrived just a few hours ago in an email from our grantee, Blyth Lord, founder of Courageous Parents Network. CPN provides a virtual community that utilizes both written and filmed resources that give parents the skills, tools and support they need to cope and adapt throughout their child’s illness.

Blyth shared a recent note from a pediatric oncologist in Omaha, Nebraska:

Dear Blyth,

We are so very grateful for the work of CPN (Courageous Parents Network) and the support the CPN videos offer our families – I started to watch the videos with two of our families last week and really valued this ability to sit together with them to view such powerful messages together – thank you for this incredible gift…

It is for the parents of children in palliative care who are struggling to find the best ways to handle a dire prognosis, and the doctors who try to guide them, that The Good People Fund invests its tzedakah dollars in Blyth’s special work.

With Puerto Rico’s devastation still impacting so many of the island’s residents, it gave us great satisfaction to be able to provide 100 battery-operated nebulizers (pictured here) for kids and adults who have been identified by medical personnel as asthma (or other respiratory illness) patients. The units were purchased here from a very generous supplier who offered a significant discount, and were flown by private jet to the island where our contact, David Solomiany from the Jewish community, delivered them to the city of Loiza.

With so much of the island still without electricity it is not just refrigeration and other basic needs that are impacted. For some, the simple act of breathing is imperiled, as well. These nebulizers have truly brought a breath of fresh air to many people impacted by health issues.

The news from Houston these past few months has been anything but positive with much of the city affected by the epic Hurricane Harvey. And yet, this morning we received this amazing picture featuring some of the new students in Plant it Forward‘s latest class of aspiring farmers seeking to return to the agrarian life they left behind when migrating to this country. The Good People Fund’s matching grant has helped make this class of 22 possible.

Teresa O’Donnell began Plant it Forward to teach organic farming to refugees whose crop is then sold at local farmers markets and farm stands, as well as through farm shares (or CSA groups) and to restaurants; all meaningful ways to create employment and provide Houston with fresh, local produce.

It’s great to see some return to normalcy in a region that was devastated so cruelly only a short time ago.

Last evening, through our Houston grantee, Yan Digilov, we connected with Cathy Moore, the Executive Director of a small health clinic that services families and individuals in one of the hardest hit parts of the city.

Cathy explained that those who rely on the clinic have an average monthly income of about $1,100.  She was expecting today, the first day the clinic would be open post-storm, to be very difficult. Cleaning supplies, toiletries and other basic needs were needed.

After making some simple arrangements, we gave Cathy a budget and told her to shop.

These pictures will attest to the fact that in less than 24 hours, Cathy and her volunteers had shopped and grateful clients received what they needed to start the long clean-up.

We expect to continue to work with Cathy over the next several weeks as additional needs become known. These are people who have lost everything—clothing, furnishings, kids’ toys, books and so much more. We hope we can make their lives a bit easier during this traumatic time.

Stay tuned….

It seems that nearly every August, when our family travels to the Jersey Shore, we get the chance to watch horrific destruction unfold somewhere as hurricane after hurricane rolls in at summer’s end. One year, it was Katrina, and we thought we would never see anything so devastating again. A few years ago, we ourselves became the victims as Hurricane Irene roared up the coast and sent us all packing.

And now we are all transfixed by the severe damage and trauma that Hurricane Harvey is bringing to Texas and the Gulf Coast. Seeing the images and reading the news, we are horrified but also heartened by tales of bravery and humanity.

We have reached out to our three grantees based in the area and all of them have reported back that they are safe. Teresa O’Donnell, founder of Plant It Forward, which works with refugee farmers, is secure in her home at the moment, but is trying to reach out to the organization’s “farmer families” to ascertain their welfare.

Rabbi Amy Weiss, founder of Undies For Everyone, is safe, though her message left us overwhelmed: “Unfortunately, we have lost the house, probably most of the things in it. People in the neighborhood are being rescued by helicopter. There are literally swarms of fire ants, snakes and alligators in the waters.”

Yan Digilov of Firestarter, another organization working with Houston’s enormous refugee population has just checked in and reported that he has gotten to a safe place as have some of those refugees we have been helping.

We know that human nature is such that everyone wants to help now.  As we have in the past, The Good People Fund will rely on those we know and trust on the ground to tell us where verified needs are most critical.  This takes time.  But when the time comes, we hope you will support us as we help those impacted by the storm.