Naomi,

Adam

Nothing makes us happier than hearing from Adam Burke, the founder and inspiration behind Veterans Farm in Florida. Adam, a vet who returned to this country with serious injuries, including PTSD, recalled how much farming meant to him as he was growing up on a blueberry farm. Couldn’t others returning from war with both physical and emotional disabilities gain a renewed sense of purpose by working outside, tilling the earth, planting, harvesting?

It seems that Adam’s efforts have taken off as Veterans Farm expands its work.

We could not be happier to be part of this truly lifesaving effort. Think of it the next time you enjoy a bowl of blueberries!

We just learned that Randi Cairns and her organization, Home Front Hearts will be featured on PBS’s Need to Know series this Friday evening. Randi’s experiences as the wife of a thrice-deployed soldier inspired her to begin Home Front Hearts which works to provide support and resources to the families of service members, as well as increase public awareness of the unique problems military families face while encouraging community response to those difficulties.

The Good People Fund has worked closely with Randi and her (mostly) volunteer staff. We know that it is their own personal experiences as military wives that guide them as they help other service families overcome the many problems associated with military service.

Here are two brief clips from the piece being broadcast Friday evening–well worth matching:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/health/video-military-families-struggle-with-the-war-at-home/11389/

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/health/video-supporting-military-families-home-front-hearts/11355/

The Good People Fund…once again has intervened in order to turn-around the life of an 85-year old whose challenges, including serious health issues, were insurmountable…on her own! You…joined hands with (LiLY) Morningside Village volunteers as we turned the tide through revitalizing her apartment. Your help paid for the services of someone who was hired to do a thorough cleaning of Lydia’s* large apartment, and for some basic cleaning supplies…

The tone in Lydia’s voice is now completely different. She keeps thanking us for the great weight of financial woes that was lifted from her shoulders during a time when depression had taken over. And, she has asked us to thank you at the Good People Fund from the bottom of her heart, so that she maintains her anonymity. We of the LILY Morningside Village project will do the best we can to see that she receives the support she needs to keep herself on the upside of home management, but we also send along our heartfelt thanks in making our "clean sweep" effort a reality for Lydia, as for others.

*a pseudonym

Irene Zola, founder of the New York-based LiLY-Lifeforce in Later Years just wrote us this lovely note and we could not be happier knowing that our funds allowed another elder to remain at home living independently. With LiLY volunteers stepping in to visit and interact with the area’s elders in helpful ways, we know that many other "Lydia’s" will enjoy the comforts of their own home as they age.

Over the summer we learned about some great work being done by Temple Sholom of Aberdeen (NJ) led by its inspiring social action committee. Two specific projects address just how one congregation can impact hunger in the local community.

In addition to their award-winning community garden which is run in partnership with a local church and provides nutritious fresh fruits and veggies to the local food pantry, Temple Sholom members have just instituted a Back Pack Buddy Program to begin in a few weeks. When the group learned that there were families in a nearby elementary school that had difficulty providing their children with sufficient healthy meals, they decided to begin the back pack program to help meet this need. When the program begins, ten children will be selected by the school staff to receive a pack each Friday filled with healthy snacks and easy meals to supplement their weekend nutrition. With Lou, Lenore and Helene at the helm and various segments of the congregation taking responsibility for aspects of the effort, what could be a time-consuming project seems to be working beautifully.

When we met with Lou and Helene the Good People Fund offered a matching grant to get the program jump-started and we were thrilled with how our seed money propelled the effort. We just learned that all funds have been raised and, if all goes smoothly, the group will re-evaluate their efforts mid-year and possibly add even more kids to the list.

Simple. One small community making a difference. How many more could do the same?

Naomi,

I am sitting at home thinking about the last 3 days and I am brought to tears (for about the 5th time today) at the love that has been shown by you and your friends… by coming here and by letting us know that there are people that DO care and realize that we are human and not just a “bunch of dumb hillbillies” and for that, I thank you.

… I will tell you that the only items left in the center at @ 6:00 tonight were a few cans of tomato juice. I had so many people ask me to tell you “THANK YOU” that this helps them so very much. This one young lady came in at the end of the day and we had a half of box of cosmetics left that I actually was getting ready to throw out because it was all broken, and she came in and starting going through the box and I watched her eyes light up like a child on Christmas morning…I told her just to take the box home with her and she kept saying are you sure you don’t mind, I can really have this? I assured her it was fine so she left with some food, a little make-up and a HUGE SMILE….I had another cry…

All of our love,

Everett & Susie

The writer, Susie Duncan, was our contact in McRoberts, Kentucky where a group of 38 volunteers representing Congregation Shaarei Shomayim in Lancaster, PA, Congregation B’nai Israel in Millburn, NJ and others from New York, Ohio and California, just completed a 3 day humanitarian trip to this isolated small town in southeast Kentucky. Despite the community’s poverty, isolation, and ongoing drug problems the residents of McRoberts are proud and hospitable people. We were served home made lunches, replete with an abundance of home-grown veggies, homemade cookies and cakes, and packages of peanut butter fudge for everyone of us for our journey home!

For the Good People Fund this was our 4th interaction with McRoberts and most definitely the largest, most complicated endeavor yet. In two and a half days of labor in the heat and humidity (and an occasional torrential downpour) our group:

Provided and offloaded a 53′ trailer filled with donated food;

Delivered school supplies, 5 boxes of shoes, books for the elementary school, musical instruments, paint, sox, new underwear;

Ran a 2 day after-school camp featuring lollipop making, story-telling and other fun activities;

Delivered and completed construction of a large bookcase and a sand table-water table which would allow the school’s pre-school program to receive state certification; and

Rehabbed five residents’ homes including painting, replacement of original windows and doors with energy efficient models to cut down on utility costs, constructed a new deck and more.

Despite the logistical challenges, poor cell reception and limited dining options all participants, from the most hard-working teens to our 70 year old, agreed that nothing could compare to the satisfaction everyone felt as we wrapped up our work and headed out.

As things were winding down tonight we were pleased to receive an email from Brad Rothschild, a friend and NY-based documentarian who traveled with us to Kentucky this past week to learn more about the area and film some of the local residents we know there.

Brad shared that his children, Jordan, Talia and Mia (11 and under), after hearing about his trip, decided to set up a lemonade stand today near their upper Manhattan home. As you can see from the sign, the proceeds from their efforts were directed to The Good People Fund. We’ve just written to them and shared that we will use their tzedakah to help some of the kids in McRoberts, KY where life is challenging at best.

Not a bad way at all to end a pretty amazing week. Thank you Jordan, Talia and Mia!