Good News Update

International Women’s Day in Israel

I want to thank you for your support, and would like you to know that this award is for you and your donors that help me and give me the opportunity to make those important changes for my sisters.

With all of yesterday’s news about International Women’s Day now past we were excited to receive this picture and an email this morning from Fainy Sukenik, the founder of Ba’asher Telchi, our Israel grantee that provides social, legal and financial advice to women from the Hareidi community who are facing divorce but do not want to leave their community. When we met Fainy in Israel a few weeks ago we learned that the demand for her organization’s services was increasing exponentially and last year alone more than 400 women benefited from their help.

We are not surprised that Fainy was selected by the Committee on the Status of Women as one of the 20 women (from the entire Israeli population) who contribute to the change in women’s status. She is a star. Pictured with Fainy at the Knesset ceremony is Isaac Herzog, chair of the Labour Party.

Bird Power (and Bunny Power, Too)

Nothing quite prepared us for our emotional journey to Israel’s southern periphery yesterday where we met with the families and children who have benefited from the extraordinary talents of Shay Agmon, a masterful animal-assisted therapist who also uses his musical talents to help kids with PTSD and other learning problems exacerbated by the 2014 war on Israel’s southern border as well as the ongoing rocket attacks which periodically shatter the calm. Nemo and Alec, pictured above, are but two members of the bird and rabbit menagerie Shay employs in his work at the local school (but nine miles from the Gaza border). The Good People Fund underwrote two series of sessions and during this visit we were able to meet not only the kids but also their parents and school officials. After what was a very emotional ceremony during which we were thanked numerous times, we had a chance to speak privately with several parents. Each told us how grateful they were and about the changes in their children’s behavior. The principal, admitting that he was initially skeptical of the program’s value, asked that we consider helping to fund additional sessions with a new group.

As we got on the road to return to Tel Aviv we could not help but agree that the smiles we saw on the kids’ faces and the appreciation we heard from both parents and school officials made this a very special tzedakah investment.

A Thought for Shabbat

As we end a very full four days of intense meetings with our grantees here in Israel the following email just received from one of those grantees was a very welcome recognition of the work our donors make possible.

Naomi, hi.

While preparing for Shabbat it struck me that you invest a lot of time and effort in trying to make Israel a better place. I feel comfortable telling you this, because I personally have nothing to gain by mentioning that which gets ignored. No one requires you to come over here year after year with another board member at your expense and to sit hour upon hour weighing how Israelis can improve our society. No one requires you to translate your concern for Israel into concrete action. You do it time and time again, and I believe that your endeavor must sometimes look routine. It certainly is not.

Were all Israelis as concerned about our country as you are, we would be living in a different society here.

In this world of instantaneous media coverage good things are often ignored. I, for one, don’t believe that such a lack of recognition is worthy or even decent. I hope that this Shabbat you will know that you and the people you work with are appreciated here.

Shabbat shalom,

Gary

And Shabbat Shalom from Tel Aviv where a very premature summer has appeared in all of its glory!

Naomi

From Timbuktu to Jerusalem

For most of us education is a given. We strive to have the best schools, the widest range of educational opportunities, to achieve as much as we might want.

Sadly, for children in remote communities across the world education is often nothing more than a dream which is why as we settled into our days in Jerusalem we were so heartened to receive this picture and a short email from Barry Hoffner, founder of our grantee, From Caravan to Class. Barry is also traveling and has just arrived in Mali where he oversaw the opening of CTC’s latest school to which the Good People Fund contributed support.

Barry wrote, With your generous support I was once again privileged today to be at the opening of one of our schools in the village of Kakondji. It is hard to express just how meaningful the new school is to the village. The head of the village pulled me aside and said “Mr. Barry, you know that one can never be President of Mali without an education. With our new school, thanks to you and your donors, maybe one of our children will be President of Mali some day”.

How great to be part of such a dream!

Before…and After

If you’ve ever been to Israel you know that there are two vegetables that are an integral part of the local diet — cucumbers and tomatoes. This melange of red and green can be found at every meal in a dizzying array of recipes. For our friends at Kaima, the organic sustainable farm that works with young people who have not succeeded in traditional learning environments, successfully growing the winter crop for their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) has been a challenge over the past few winters when unusually cold temperatures have prevailed in the Jerusalem hills. When Kaima’s dynamic founder, Yoni Yefet Reich, asked if the Good People Fund could underwrite the cost of a 300 square meter onsite greenhouse to protect the young plants we knew this would be an excellent investment of the tzedakah entrusted to us by our donors.

Sure enough — Yoni reports that this critical addition to Kaima’s fields has been a resounding success. In fact, in one day alone, more than 76kg (that’s almost 170 pounds) of cukes were harvested! In addition to the bumper crop, one of Kaima’s young participants is responsible for all of the activities connected to the greenhouse –a job requiring significant talent and commitment — the very things Kaima instills in its participants.

The Unspeakable

Imagine being poor; imagine being poor and enduring the death of a newborn baby. How do you not only overcome that loss but also provide a proper burial for your child when funds are in such short supply?

Jeannie Jaybush, the founder of Seattle Baby Bank has been caring for the city’s most vulnerable new babies for decades. Typically she provides all of the “fun stuff” we think about when discussing baby needs–diapers, bottles, onesies, a Teddy Bear, a car seat. But–sometimes she learns of cases like this, situations where a baby has died and the family does not have the means to provide a proper resting place. When she learned that the other children in the family were willing to forego Christmas gifts in order to have enough money to give their baby sister a proper resting place but had come up short, she reached out to us. Could we help?

As Jeannie wrote: Losing the baby was bad enough, but the added stress of the unmarked grave is unacceptably brutal. There have been far too many unmarked graves in this world. It has to stop somewhere—and if it has to start someplace I guess it’ll be here. We can’t treat people this way.

Indeed, Jeannie, we cannot treat people this way and for that reason, with the help of our donors, the Good People Fund sent Jeannie a check for $709.48; just the amount needed to provide a proper gravestone for this little girl who never had a chance to grow up.