Good News Update

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.

Joy, Indeed…

There are times that a short video clip can best describe the essence of a program far better than all of the words we might write. That is the case with this piece we just received from Gloria Baker Feinstein, founder of Change the Truth. The lives of children living at St. Mary Kevin’s orphanage in Uganda were irrevocably changed when Gloria visited years ago. As she writes, there is an abundance of poverty, loss, and sorrow, but with the help of CTT kids now receive love, an education and most of all, hope for the future.

Watch it; in 90 seconds or sooner you will be smiling.

Change the Truth

The Man With the Big Heart

We know from the several years that we have worked with him that Gideon Ben-Ami, our grantee in Israel, not only loves to feed hungry people but is always on the lookout for simple but meaningful acts of kindness that will change things for the better. This morning when alerted to the situation, he was introduced to the two young mothers and their toddlers pictured here. The four were flown to Israel from Haiti for urgent and advanced heart surgery required for genetic heart problems that would have resulted in death if not repaired. While doctors and the hospital all donated their services and housing and travel costs were covered, the families had very few resources to cover other needs before they return to Haiti on December 25. Enter Gideon! When alerted to the situation he shopped for basic food and added some items he had in stock making them more comfortable in their unfamiliar surroundings.

To top it off, when he learned that their dream was to see Jerusalem before they departed, he arranged a sherut (taxi) to send them there for a visit.

As Gideon wrote, “It’s a joy to make their dream come true. A great miracle in having their kids operated here. Here is the beautiful Israel.” We agree and are happy that our funds proved that “small actions, have huge impacts.”