January 19, 2009

Clowning Around…the World

Last summer (Tzedakah Diary June 16, July 1, 2008) we shared the work of Dr. Neal Goldberg and his troupe of medical clowns, Lev Leytzan (heart of a clown) – Compassionate Clown Alley. In addition to the many, many adults and children in the greater New York City area who have been cheered by these professionally trained teens and young adults, several clowns had an unforgettable experience last month when they made a slight detour on their annual trip to Israel. Several members of the troupe stopped in Munich to visit with elderly Shoah survivors living in that city. While still in Munich, Neal shared the following thoughts on the impact of visiting an area with such powerful significance:

Munich has been incredible. We’re blown away. We’ve been moving between hosting home visits, senior centers and community events with historical visits. Dachau was powerful – our debriefing consensus was that our clowning brings life to where tragedy and illness try to take it away!!

Once the full troupe assembled in Israel they spent ten days visiting hospitals, community centers, and other venues where the smile of a clown can transform anyone in need of some cheer.

Shortly after returning from their whirlwind tour, Neal shared the following link to a great article on the clowns which appeared in CNN. Check it out…

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/12/18/clown.joy.patients/

January 15, 2009

A Dog Tale

When the school year began last Fall we were in touch with Tamara Ruben, principal of the Temple Beth-El Mekor Chayim Religious School in Cranford, NJ. Tamara wanted the kids in her school to become truly involved in a tzedakah project. Putting coins in the school tzedakah box was fine, but she wanted something more than that-something truly "hands-on".

Tamara was impressed with Avshalom Beni and his Israeli program, Humans and Animals in Mutual Assistance-HAMA Israel, and wanted her students to learn more about this unique organization which uses (mostly) rescued animals (dog and cats) as co-therapists in treating both kids and adults who experience many different types of emotional and physical disabilities. After introducing her school to HAMA through a video produced by the now-closed Ziv Tzedakah Fund, students and teacher alike embarked upon a multi-faceted effort to help HAMA.

What follows is a note that Tamara sent to her congregation and shared with us. We think it is a beautiful description of not only her school’s efforts, but also her encounter with Avshalom, his co-therapists, and some of his most vulnerable clients. Kol Hakavod to everyone who took part in this special mitzvah.

… I would like to share with you a story of great inspiration and hope that has to do with a connection with HAMA (http://www.hama-israel.org.il/) an Israeli organization and TBEMC’s Religious School. I am sharing this with you so that you too will be proud of our special school and its wonderful values.

HAMA: Tormented human beings and animals who were able to build a sacred bridge that will stay etched in my heart forever.

January 14, 2009

Gifts of Light

Oops! We almost forgot to share this little holiday story with all of you. Last month we had a chance to speak with PK Beville, founder of Second Wind Dreams (Tzedakah Diary, April 28, 2008, http://www.secondwind.org/), a special organization which makes dreams come true for elders living in closed-care institutions. When you live in a nursing home, the holidays can be particularly difficult. So many of the elders that Second Wind works with are not only isolated because of their confinement to a nursing facility, but many do not even have family who can bring some holiday joy into their lives.

For many years, PK and her volunteers have organized Gifts of Light…a gift extravaganza delivered to elders who might otherwise have a very quiet and sad holiday celebration. This year, the Gifts of Light program was in peril as the economy plummeted and donations dwindled. Could we help? PK was thrilled. With the Good People Fund donation, her volunteer elves hit the stores. Here is what they came up with! A wise investment on our part….

January 9, 2009

A True Birthday ANGEL

It is only 6:52AM as I write this and my day has already been "made"! With Israel seven hours ahead on the clock there are always early emails waiting in the dark, cold morning of winter in New Jersey.

This morning’s email actually brought two "gifts" but we will save the story of the second one for another day. The message I received that truly made my day was from Ruthie Sobel Luttenberg, the creative founder of Birthday Angels who we have written about before. (Tzedakah Diary, April 29, 2008 and December 10, 2008) Earlier this week, Ruthie shared that she was going to help some of the kids from the south of Israel cope with the trauma of living in a place where rockets fall indiscriminately from the sky. This was nothing new for Ruthie. In the summer of 2006 she could be found in the shelters in the North of Israel trying to distract and cheer those kids who spent so many hours each day confined to the shelter.

With her usual warm and caring personality, it was no surprise to find the following story on my screen. Click through this link and see how one person is making life better for kids who could use some joy in their lives right now. You won’t be disappointed. http://www.birthday-angels.org/site/detail/detail/detailDetail.asp?detail_id=1210387&depart_id=70698

January 8, 2009

How One Person Feeds Hungry People

Just as we were "closing down" for the day, an email popped up from our friend, Peter Freimark, a mitzvah maker extraordinaire (and board member). On May 26, 2008 we shared the story of how Peter arranged for a donation of 22 tons of frozen chicken to Cleveland-area food programs. Peter was also instrumental in getting us food for the workers in Postville, Iowa.

There are two things that particularly bother Peter – first, he doesn’t like to see people go hungry, and second, he cannot abide good food going to waste. With those two principles guiding him, it was no surprise to learn that he had arranged the delivery of a truckload of food to several Cleveland-area shelters and pantries. Here is his short email describing what he had done over the past two days:

Through the good work of Joe Lordi in Youngstown we had a 53 foot truckload of beautiful food-there were skids of fresh salads in bags, milk of all types, IBC Root Beer, chocolate, Gatorade, strawberry applesauce and much, much more. Total cost for food, labor, warehouse space, vehicles, fuel and freight was $400! Now that’s leverage!

We could not agree more! Kol Hakavod, Peter!

We should add one more thing here. When the economy started to plummet Peter took on some additional work which we encourage others to investigate. After visiting several local food establishments (like the local Panera’s) he arranged to make pick-ups several nights each week to rescue the leftovers and deliver them to local pantries and shelters who feed hungry people. How many of us could do the same thing in our own communities? We would bet that many stores/restaurants are throwing away perfectly good food each day because there is no one who has arranged to make the pickup and get it to where it can do some good. What a great project for a few good friends to start-it could really make a difference.

January 6, 2009

A Homerun

We had a visit last week from a young man who is about to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah. Lev Schechter and his Mom, Cantor Riki Lippitz came to discuss what Lev might do for his mitzvah project – how could he make a difference? I always enjoy these conversations…I learn a great deal about the young people I speak with and after a few questions I can usually point them in the right direction. Nothing quite prepared me for the speed in which this Bar Mitzvah found his "calling". No sooner did we get through some pleasantries about school and the Bar Mitzvah and that all-important question "what do you really enjoy?", than we hit pay dirt! When Lev said he enjoyed sports, I immediately thought of a new program that we recently discovered. Very tentatively, I asked, "baseball?" Lev’s eyes lit up! Baseball was indeed one of his favorites. I knew right then that we had hit a homerun and I shared the story of Brett Kalikow and Homerun Hopefuls.

In 2002 when Brett (now a senior at Harvard) was a teenager vacationing with his family in the Dominican Republic he left the resort in search of a local baseball game. Nothing quite prepared him for what he discovered. Baseball, we know, is a very popular sport in the Dominican but sadly the way it is played is not always what we may recognize here. When Brett came upon a game, he saw kids using milk or juice cartons for mitts, rocks for balls and sticks for bats. The first thing Brett thought of was how much equipment he and his friends back in New York had lying around. Shoes, bats, balls, mitts, jerseys, t-shirts…who didn’t have tons of this in the basement, the attic, or stuck in the back of a closet? The answer was simple.

As soon as Brett returned to New York he began to collect whatever he could find. In a very short time he had five boxes filled with perfectly good equipment. The next question was how to get it to the Dominican Republic? In time, Brett made contact with someone at the Dominican consulate and soon a shipper was found who agreed to ship the items at no cost. Brett and his family were encouraged to return to the country to distribute everything themselves and indeed, that spring they did just that. Since that first visit, Brett and his family have returned each year to distribute new collections that have been gathered by others who learned about his project. Homerun Hopefuls, Brett’s non-profit, continues its good work and has become a favorite of many Bar Mitzvah kids who love baseball.

So-within perhaps 10 minutes or less, Lev Schechter knew just what he was going to do. We put him in touch with another young man who had gathered a collection for his Bar Mitzvah and also gave him a one page "how to" sheet which should get him started on his own project very soon.

Love baseball? Check out http://www.homerunhopefuls.org/.