Dear Naomi,

We are writing this letter on behalf of the participants of the debate
club that your foundation sponsored.

It has been a year since we started to pursue this wish of learning
the wisdom and the tools of debate. Because of your generosity, we
finally got the chance to do so.

At this time we have passed over 15 meetings, and in each session we
challenged ourselves to meet new demands. We believe that the tools
acquired in this course will help us to achieve whatever goals we’ll
set our mind to do and help others. From this point forward our
primary task is to deliver this great wisdom to our brothers and
sisters in the community. In fact, we have just received another grant
that will allow us to offer this course to more participants…

We wish to thank you for your support and trust – we’ll do our best to
live up to the expectations.

Keep shining in the world with your GOOD people.

Sincerely yours,

The debate club

Matan Zara

Golan Jamber

It was just one year ago while visiting Israel that we had the chance to meet Golan Jamber and Matan Zera, two  Ethiopian army officers who represent the very best of  new young leadership – fine character, vision and a strong concern for their fellow Ethiopians as they struggle to succeed in their adopted home.

Israeli Ethiopians, by and large, often fall into the lowest economic strata. As a people, they are seen as quiet and unassuming; many think them weak and limited in ability. Golan and Matan wanted to change that perception and when we met shared their vision of offering the best Ethiopian IDF officers an opportunity to study the art of debate at a well-known Israeli center. Learning to debate will empower these young people in new ways, tapping into their potential and developing strength and conviction; ultimately, making them even better leaders in their community.

Judging by this letter it seems that our belief in these two young men has proven correct. The debate course has produced a group of more effective leaders and perhaps even more important has been recognized by other funders who want to see the program grow.

Thank you Golan and Matan for your creative leadership and for giving the Good People Fund this special tzedakah opportunity.

We are so grateful to Beth Toni Kruvant, an award-winning documentarian, who shot this short film for us while visiting Israel last Spring. Beth was taken with the story of the African refugees who have sought safety in Israel and during her visit was able to learn from both Gideon Ben-Ami who manages our breakfast in Levinsky Park and Yohannes Bayu, founder of the African Refugee Development Center, one of the Good People Fund’s grantees. Though the breakfast has recently stopped as Tel Aviv’s weather has improved and there is less demand, our friend Gideon continues to make his rounds to local food establishments every week. We were able to join him on our recent trip to Israel and were truly overwhelmed by the quantity and quality of what Gideon is able to retrieve. So many people who would otherwise go hungry can enjoy some nourishment because Gideon is so committed to this project.

Here is the link to the video which is also currently appearing on our homepage.

The Good People Fund's Food Recovery Program in Tel Aviv

On January 30, 2008 a group of the Good People Fund’s most ardent supporters gathered in New York City on a cold and snowy night to officially launch the organization. It was, at once, both exciting and most definitely a bit frightening as well. Had any of us realized the economic trauma that was to unfold but a few months later, perhaps we would not have even considered this tzedakah venture. Lehman Brothers was a strong, reputable institution and the name Bernie Madoff elicited thoughts of a really bad movie from years ago.

As we begin our sixth year we could not be happier. We have raised and disbursed more than $3,500,000 and helped dozens of exciting Good People achieve their own inspiring tikkun olam. Our donors count on us to identify creative, cost-efficient ways to invest their tzedakah dollars and we do just that.

This morning, we are poised to take our next step and Debbie Klein who has worked with us on a part-time basis for almost two years, will assume the position of Associate Director of the Fund. We are all excited about this new addition to our family. While Debbie brings an impressive background to our work, even more meaningful is the passion she feels for the Good People Fund model. She is an enthusiastic “cheerleader” and “mitzvah broker” in her own right. With two of us now carrying out this important work we can only imagine how much more will be possible.

Welcome on board, Debbie. We are excited to have your talents working on our behalf.