Two weeks ago, Israelis commemorated Yom Ha’Atzmaut or Independence Day. As we do here in the States, this celebration includes picnics, barbeques and family outings.

It was our pleasure to underwrite a very special gathering that day which joined two of our favorite animal-assisted therapy programs, INTRA (Israel National Therapeutic Riding Association), http://intra.org.il, and HAMA Israel (Humans and animals in Mutual Assistance),http://hama-israel.org.il. Avshalom Beni was able to invite many of the families who take part in his program to a party at INTRA’s campus, located on the Mediterranean beach near Netanya. Original plans called for a two hour event. Here’s what Avshalom wrote us after the party ended…

…This year we decided to do something extraordinary and have an Independence Day Celebration. Because we do not have our own Center, we are obliged to seek out other places. … INTRA opened up their own Center to us and afforded these families one of those experiences which will be cherished all of their lives.

HAMA volunteers provided the food and games and transportation, while Giora and his staff gave us an unsurpassed setting on the sea, where we could see the IDF Navy and Air Force perform right in front of us– an amazing spectacle. Giora, his son Daniel, and his helpers Tomer and Thai, personally arranged pony and wagon rides for the younger children. What was supposed to be a two hour event went on for a full eight hours of real joy and endless years of nostalgia for all of us.

We wish we could have been there!

On February 24 we shared the story of Darla Oz, a Jerusalemite who with her husband began a small organization called House to House. House to House provides food assistance, clothing, shoes, help for elders including Shoah survivors, and other basic needs to people who would otherwise "fall through the cracks". Our original donation underwrote the costs of cab rides which many elders must rely upon to get around.

While catching up with Darla in an early morning call today, we learned about a small hotel in Jerusalem which is home to almost 200 elderly Shoah survivors, many of them ill and lonely. Darla shared that in a conversation with the social worker at the site, she learned a few things that were truly sad. The first point shared was that for many of these elders birthdays are rarely celebrated – no gifts, no cards…just a lonely day like any other. The social worker also told Darla that many residents wished that the local grocer (who brings basic food items to the hotel lobby each Friday so that everyone can shop) would include fresh cheese in his weekly visits. They truly missed enjoying a piece of cheese! In about 30 seconds Darla and I decided that each of these residents should enjoy this treat, and what better time for them to receive it than on their birthday? Darla also asked if it would be possible to get birthday cards for each of them, and we promised we would enlist as many religious school teachers and students as possible in this simple act of chesed.

We have sent Darla gift bags and curling ribbon and expect to hear shortly that the first residents are getting their wish for a piece of fresh cheese and some crackers to go with it. Such a simple wish – such a simple solution.

On February 15 in our entry entitled "Israel’s Young Activists" we described our meeting with Jesse and Steven Fox and Gilli and Daniel Cherrin, young Tel-Aviv residents who began Fugee Fridays. The all-volunteer group picks up leftovers from the Carmel Market on Friday afternoons and delivers them to many of the African refugees who are living in nearby shelters, as well as to many poor residents in South Tel-Aviv. The group is engaged in several other beneficial activities including interaction with many of the immigrant children in both play and study.

Impressed with what the group has accomplished, we promised to underwrite the cost of t-shirts which would be printed with the group’s logo. With the imprinted shirts the volunteers would be more easily recognized by the market’s merchants and give their efforts a bit more of a formal tone.

We were so happy to just receive this picture and agree that the volunteers look very professional as they pick up the luscious fruits and vegetables that will feed many hungry people who have come to rely upon this dedicated group.

We are pleased and honored to announce that the Good People Fund’s board will be enhanced as of this month by a new member who has agreed to join us in our work.

Allen Katzoff brings to our work a critical mix of experience in both the for-profit and non-profit world, specifically in the areas of marketing and strategic planning. In addition to management positions in technology companies, he has served as the Director of Camp Ramah in New England as well as the Director of the Center for Adult Jewish Learning at Hebrew College in Boston. A graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Allen also holds an MBA from Northeastern University. Allen and his wife, Joan Leegant, are the parents of two sons. Currently, Allen and Joan reside in the Boston area.

We are honored and excited to have Allen on board. We know that his areas of expertise and his commitment to tzedakah and tikkun olam will serve the Good People Fund well.

Yasher koach, Allen! We look forward to having your insights and experience as we go forward.

Back in the 1980’s, Larry Linkov and Phil Lefton were retail business partners in a small NJ community. Eddie Lewis was initially a customer who soon became a friend. In time, the three extended their friendship and home visits eventually grew to sharing their religious experiences as well. The more time they spent together, the more they realized "we are more similar than different." The African American Jewish Coalition was the product of their friendship. AAJC typifies the true meaning of grass-roots activism and desire to promote racial harmony on the local level.

Though many years have passed since the group’s inception, the founders’ goals still guide their work. Their non-religious focus includes three programs each year which bring together Jewish Americans and African Americans in a bond of true brotherhood. A Freedom Seder, celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, and a mid-December multicultural holiday celebration are programs implemented by not only the adults in this group but also by the youth group which they have developed and encouraged.

Several weeks ago the group held its annual Spring Freedom Seder which drew almost 150 people for an evening of traditional Passover food and reflections on freedom and mutual understanding. It was the Good People Fund’s honor to be a part of this meaningful celebration and to contribute to the costs of the evening’s Seder fare.

Check out the group’s simple website, http://www.aajcnj.org. Perhaps this is something you can do to foster good will and harmony in your own community.

How many of us follow the news coming out of Iraq or Afghanistan and really stop to think about the human toll these wars have taken? Other than the details shared by our local papers when a local soldier is killed or injured, do any of us fully comprehend what is behind the numbers and the headlines? What toll is taken on the families of those who are killed? Or maimed, or wounded? Do we ever really learn the disturbing details, the very human details? Most likely, not.

Ranya Kelly, founder of The Redistribution Center in Denver knows exactly what this toll involves. We have written about Ranya in this Diary many times. She is the dedicated, hard-working champion of taking what others (manufacturers, retailers and so many more) are going to toss into landfills and delivering it to people who live in extreme poverty and despair. In truth, The Redistribution Center is one of the first ecology programs ever found in this country. In addition to rescuing perfectly good items Ranya has also started a small food bank which steps in when some of the larger entities nearby find themselves without sufficient supplies to feed all of the hungry people who come to their doors.

In recent times, though, Ranya has reached out to another forgotten segment of our population-returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who have sustained unspeakable injuries while fighting, and are now back home with insufficient resources to help them get on with their lives. As we listen to Ranya share their stories we shudder at the sadness and the horror of it all. In a phone conversation last Thursday, Ranya shared the story of a female soldier who, after returning from Iraq, resumed her life, became pregnant and delivered a baby girl. Soon after, she was diagnosed with colon cancer, she and her husband lost their rented home and her husband lost his job. What did they need? Diapers. They did not have enough money for diapers.

Ranya tells us that she has six veterans waiting for couches…couches! While the VA may get them a place to live, they do not necessarily furnish it for them and many soldiers need those couches because that is where some of them are able to sleep more comfortably, rather than in a traditional bed. In another case, a wounded Purple Heart veteran returned home to find his wife had left him and in the process destroyed their home leaving him and their child nothing but mold and mildew and nothing to salvage. In that case, Ranya provided him with everything he needed to fill his home and start over again.

There is no shortage of stories like these. Ranya could probably fill a book with them. The Good People Fund is committed to helping where we can and we have just sent funds to cover the cost of a new couch and diapers for the ill soldier described here.

How many of us knew about these situations? How many of us could help?