January 5, 2009

Life in Sderot … and More

An email this morning from our contacts in Sderot brought the following brief description of what life has been like over the past several days (as well as before):

…As for us in Sderot: Schools, kindergartens and nurseries are all closed. In addition, all businesses are closed except for the local supermarkets. Many residents have left the town because they find it very hard to be confined to their homes all day long.

To help Sderot’s residents, "Reut" Sderot (a local organization with whom we work) organizes many different activities. Six shelters are running five days a week providing several different activities, from arts and crafts, movies and sports to actual trauma therapy. They are also providing ongoing respites to get adults and children out of the city. Over the past several weeks kids have gone to amusement parks, plays, museums and other pleasurable activities to keep them occupied and away from the daily danger, if only for brief periods. In addition, just this past weekend, 30 families were sent to several different locations throughout the country with housing and transportation costs covered by the organization.

With funds sent to us by donors who want to help out during this crisis, we are going to provide for some of these programs with the hope that they will soon not be necessary.

Related to the ongoing war in that area of Israel was an email I received a few days ago from an old friend with whom we did some relief work after September 11, 2001. Richard Smith came to New York City only a few days after the bombings and it was only a short time after that that we were introduced to him as a possible contact to help with determining how we could provide whatever was needed during those dark days. Richard became our "eyes and ears" on the scene and a friendship evolved. I knew that after Richard returned home to Virginia he had made many trips to Israel, particularly to the area around the Gaza border. His email which arrived a few days ago included a link to a very powerful video on YouTube. Dana, the young woman who speaks in the video, lives near Sderot and her words and her demeanor are extraordinarily powerful. If you want to get an idea of what life was like prior to the current war, click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kroyMfkoRHA

We think the piece says a great deal on many different levels…

January 2, 2009

Knit 2, Purl 2 Mitzvahs …

Several years ago we learned about a Denver lawyer who loved to knit. Since she was home raising a young family she had even more time to indulge in her passion. When a friend adopted a child from an orphanage in the FSU and reported on the very sad conditions in which these children live, Kimberly Turnbow found a way to use her talents on behalf of others-she created Warm Woolies. Warm Woolies provides hand-knitted wool garments for children in these orphanages as well as children growing up in a few Native American communities not far from Denver. All are created by volunteers across the country who knit with skill and not a small amount of love.

Kimberly’s efforts have proven extraordinarily successful. If you visit the group’s website, http://www.warmwoolies.org/, you will see just how this small and very focused group has grown. With over 500 items knitted in their first year of operation, it looks as if Warm Woolies ended 2008 with more than 12,000 items-socks, gloves, sweaters, vests-knitted by over 1000 volunteers. This figure means that every week Warm Woolies receives about 70 packages from knitters all over the world and distributes 1000 items each month to children in cold climates who can benefit from the warmth of these beautifully crafted garments.

When we contacted Kimberly to see where we could help her work it did not take long for her to come up with just the right need for us to fill. As is the case with nearly every program we work with, monetary donations to Warm Woolies have dropped by about 40% in the past year and with that, transportation costs have risen with the increase in fuel prices in the earlier part of the year. Kimberly asked if we could help them by providing funds for the ever-important boxes they need to ship the items either nationally or internationally. The Good People Fund has agreed to underwrite part of the costs of the more than 300 cardboard boxes they use each year.

It is a pleasure to be part of Warm Woolies – they are a small but very meaningful organization that not only provides items of warmth to youngsters who would otherwise go without, but they also allow volunteers to use their own special talents on behalf of others. If you are a knitter or know someone who is, check them out!

January 1, 2009

War In Israel – How We All Can Help

Yesterday, as the year 2008 was coming to a close we received the following email from Barbara Silverman, the founder and inspiration behind A Package From Home. Barbara founded A Package From Home immediately after the start of the terror attacks in 2000. Dedicated to helping Israel’s chayalim bodedim (lone soldiers) and other soldiers, Barbara, with the help of volunteers, prepares packages which contain both essentials and some "treats" to provide some comfort to those who serve on the front lines. Now, more than ever, Barbara’s packages are so important to the soldiers’ physical and emotional well-being. While the following letter was written on December 31, we know that Barbara will continue to provide packages as long as the funds are available. If you can help, we urge you to do so…it is not an insignificant act on the part of those who want to help Israel’s soldiers as they protect the country.

December 31, 2008

Dear Friends of a Package from Home,

Barbara Bloom Silverman
Founder of a Package from Home
emess@netvision.net.il
011-972-2-623-2548

December 22, 2008

Sometimes It IS All In the Timing

A few days ago I sent an email to my dear friend Zev Birger in Jerusalem. Zev’s late wife, Trudi, was an angel who helped so many families in the very poor neighborhood of Romema. Years ago, Trudi was approached by Jerusalem’s late and famous mayor, Teddy Kollek, who begged her to help these families who had so little. In Trudi, Teddy saw that her fiery determination and drive would help her in this monumental task. Trudi’s goal was to provide the families with food, school supplies, extra funds for medicines…whatever was needed. But, most of all, she wanted to stop the cycle of poverty that was so pervasive and she knew the best way to do that was to help the children in each of these families receive a good education that would lift them out of poverty. Today, "Trudi’s kids" are professionals, teachers, technicians…and they support their own families because Trudi cared.

Sadly, Trudi died quite suddenly a few years ago and left her beloved husband Zev to carry on her work. Though Zev does not believe that he is as accomplished as his late wife, I know differently. He is as compassionate and caring as Trudi was and he has continued her work beautifully.

The email I received from Zev was very sad. As I have heard from so many of our programs, funds are scarce and so many people who have come to rely on Zev cannot be helped. He just does not have the funds to do what is needed. I responded to Zev’s plea by promising to send some funds.

Within a few hours of that exchange I called an old friend Kenny Kodish in Israel to check in on him and his family. Midway into the conversation, he asked me if I knew where his Hanukah tzedakah money could make a big difference. It did not take long to answer that question. I told him to check his email when we ended our conversation, and he would find the answer. I gave him Zev’s contact information and within an hour I learned that he and his beautiful children (all four of them!) would be paying Zev a visit the next day.

And so — I was not surprised when I received the following email from Zev just a few days later.

Hi Naomi

I met Kenny… he came by with his kids They are a great Mischpoche… wonderfull Children… I was able to finance five pair of shoes and pay something for medication, Kenny is a very nice and friendly person with a good JEWISH smile, His assistance to the families came in time and he and his children made a great mitzvah. May all of them be blessed for that. Me he gave a most wonderfull Gift: A BIG HUG FROM NAOMI !!! thanks my dear… Love Zev

Sometimes, it really is all in the timing…

December 15, 2008

A Sign of the Times

Until today, the headlines we all have been reading were painful to digest but still somewhat removed. With the collapse of the Madoff investments his past week there has been a seismic shift in the Jewish philanthropic world – something that many agree can never be recovered. Schools, hospitals, universities…it seems as if no one is unscathed by this disaster as the list of casualties rises hourly.

Behind the numbers, though, are real people with real needs that may never be met – and lives that may even be lost. Buried in the news of billions of dollars that have vanished (has anyone noticed that the "new billion" is really like the "old million"? – much like the new age of 60 is really "like the old 50"–numbers have taken on new meaning) are the stories of many non-profit organizations that work hard to improve and save people’s lives. One of the organizations that is reporting potential difficulties is a small but critically important non-profit called The Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation. What started in 1991 as a truly grass-roots effort-one family’s quest to find a suitable bone marrow donor for their son and brother, Jay Feinberg, has grown to a vital and critically important institution within the Jewish community. Today, Gift of Life can proudly claim that nearly 1500 people received a match through their efforts and over 125,000 have registered to be potential donors. In recent years, Gift of Life has begun a Jewish cord blood registry which can help save the lives of individuals who have been unsuccessful in finding bone marrow or stem cell matches. With both of these registries in place, Gift of Life has positioned itself as one of the pre-eminent sources of life-saving resources for Jews world-wide. It plays a critically important role in Jewish life today.

With the unfortunate events of the past week, Jay Feinberg and Gift of Life find themselves in a difficult position. While the organization did not lose funds, many, many of its principal donors have been adversely affected by recent events and will not be able to continue the important support that they have so generously offered in the past. We would like to hope that everyone realizes the importance Gift of Life holds to the Jewish community and we ask you to visit their web site, http://www.giftoflife.org/, read about the truly outstanding work they have accomplished and consider a donation to keep that work going. None of us will ever know when or if Gift of Life’s services could be the key to our own survival.