As the result of a national online search to identify visionaries changing the world around them, the Good People Fund  (GPF) has welcomed Helene Bortz and the San Diego based non-profit, The Jewish Gift Closet-San Diego Community G’mach as the latest grantee of the national Tzedakah micro-philanthropic fund (www.goodpeoplefund.org). GPF seeks unique and highly effective programs led by good people, and invests in their exciting tikkun olam(repairing the world) work.

The G’mach was one of over 170 entities to apply to receive funding, professional development and guidance from The Good People Fund. The 12-week process included an intense crowdfunding campaign run on the Jewish crowdfunding platform Jewcer.  The G’mach and five other non-profits were among the finalists that collectively raised through crowdfunding over $19,000 and then received matching grants totaling $21,000 from The Good People Fund.  Together, the crowdfunding and matching grants generated over $40,000.  Since the completion of the campaign, the G’mach has joined the 69 other on-going GPF grantees in the US and Israel.

The G’mach, an acronym for Gemilut Chasadim or deeds of loving kindness, is San Diego’s only gift closet. The G’mach is a place where people donate items they have no use for. Items donated to the G’mach are given for free to recipients in need from a warehouse located off of Miramar Road. The G’mach is unique since it also attempts to find solutions for those in need, including; professional adult mentoring & advocacy; rent subsidies; emergency cash needs; Shabbat and holiday meals, internships, youth group workshops and family life cycle needs.

The G’mach was founded by Bortz during the economic downturn in June 2009 when she became increasingly aware that many Jewish families were experiencing financial difficulties.  Along with Myrice Goldberg, the two opened their first location in a building lent by a friend. Shortly after, donations of clothing, household appliances and baby equipment began to arrive which necessitated the rental of a local warehouse where they ultimately set up a no-cost shopping experience for those needing goods.  As they spoke with clients, they soon became aware of the need for emergency services such as rent and job mentorship. Those services have also been added to what the G’mach provides.

They learned that many of those they were helping were isolated and disenfranchised and would benefit from connections with caring individuals and communities.  “We decrease their social isolation and elevate their human dignity by connecting each family/individual client to a caring person in the community or opportunity to be part of a synagogue community especially over the Jewish holidays,” explains Bortz.  “Needs are assessed on an individual basis and many clients are not only impoverished but have special needs or may have mental illness. We treat each client with dignity and caring as we would want a family member to be treated.”

Naomi Eisenberger, founding Executive Director of The Good People Fund explains “Helene and Myrice recognized that there was a significant vacuum for these families and individuals and their needs were going unmet.”

So how did the G’mach go from crowdfunding finalist to GPF grantee?  Naomi offers the following: “In addition to raising funds during the crowdfunding campaign, they became a grantee because the G’mach actually lives the mission of the Good People Fund. They are passionate individuals who spend their time improving the lives of those who need help; visionaries who see creative solutions where others see problems or turn a blind eye. Like so many of our grantees, they want to make an even greater impact but just don’t have the resources of a development staff or significant budget and that is where we step in.”

In addition to supporting their current programs, the G’mach plans to apply the new funds to reach more single women with small children, and others who have recently become unemployed. They plan to distribute supplemental rent in emergency situations, while they help create a more stable long-term plan with vocational mentoring and networking for jobs.

Now housed in a permanent warehouse, the G’mach serves hundreds of needy families and individuals throughout the San Diego community with additional programs and services. Further information or ways to support the G’mach can be found at www.goodpeoplefund.org.

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In December of 2014, Naomi Eisenberger, founding executive director of the national tzedakah initiative The Good People Fund (www. goodpeoplefund. org) traveled to Atlanta to experience how two new grantees demonstrate their tikkun olam spirit every day and not just during the holidays.

During the 72-hour trip, Eisenberger helped volunteers from Second Helpings Atlanta (SHA) unload and deliver 1,000 pounds of fresh produce, prepared foods, and meats for the food pantry at Malachi’s Storeroom, housed at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. She then joined 450 volunteers to distribute toys and holiday cheer to a room of 750 eager kids at Amy’s Holiday Party. Lastly, she ft in some professional development with Robyn Faintich, the Good People Fund’s new education outreach consultant.

Founded 10 years ago by octogenarian Guenther Hecht, as a social action project for Temple Sinai in suburban Atlanta, SHA is today an independent, nonproft organization that utilizes more than 300 volunteers to pick up food, mostly from local supermarkets and some restaurants, 364 days a year.

“To know that Second Helpings Atlanta repeats this entire scenario several times each and every day is astounding,” says Eisenberger. “Even more amazing is the fact that they operate with one part-time employee and a minimal budget. We couldn’t help but wonder why this model couldn’t be developed in so many more places, eradicating or reducing the seemingly impossible problem of hunger once and for all.”

Amy’s Holiday Party is a signature event of Creating Connected Communities (CCC). At the age of 12, Amy Sacks (now Amy Sacks Zeide) was stunned to learn of the theft of holiday toys at a local shelter. She immediately donated some funds to help replace those toys. The next year, as a bat mitzvah project, she organized Amy’s Holiday Party, which brings together kids from local social service agencies and offers them a fun day, ending with the gifting of toys and games. This year’s party was Amy’s 20th; The Good People Fund was present and experienced what can only be called an extravaganza. What makes this event even more meaningful is that the teens who volunteer are responsible for much of what takes place. Amy’s organization, Creating Connected Communities, provides leadership training to local teens, with a curriculum that focuses on homelessness and advocacy. The holiday party is part of the program.

We knew Amy’s story from many years go and were not surprised to finally meet a gracious young woman who hasn’t forgotten how small actions can have a significant impact,” says Eisenberger.

As grantees, both groups receive funding (a combined total of nearly $10,000 in 2014), as well as mentorship and professional guidance, to help them successfully grow and reach their full potential.

While Eisenberger’s trip was filled with events, she also met and strategized with Robyn Faintich, who now serves as the education and outreach consultant to the Good People Fund. Faintich brings over 17 years of Jewish communal professional experience in areas that include youth movements, day schools, community teen initiatives, early childhood education, congregational family education, and adult education.

In August 2010, Robyn launched JewishGPS LLC to help guide Jewish organizations in many aspects of Jewish education. Robyn is responsible for the Good People Fund’s new education initiative, Grab ‘n’ Go Lessons, created to complement the existing curriculum. “Grab ’n’ Go are tzedakah-based lesson plans that encapsulate a profile of a Good Person, an existing grantee, and include interactive discussion guides, a corresponding text study, specialized learning activities and suggestions for hands-on social action engagement,” explains Faintich. “What sets them apart from other modular or instant lessons is that they profile a person or organization doing this good work, today.”

The curriculum and Grab ‘n’ Go Lessons can be downloaded, free of charge, at goodpeoplefund.org/jewish-learning-about-tzedakah/gpf-grab-n-go-lessons.

Faintich has also been instrumental in the increase of GPF’s social media presence.

Founded in 2008 and inspired by the concept of repairing the world, The Good People Fund responds to significant problems such as poverty, disability, trauma, and social isolation, primarily in the United States and Israel. It provides financial support and management guidance for small-to-medium grassroots efforts. GPF grant recipients are leading their non-profits with annual budgets less than $500,000 and no professional development staff, but are driven to make a difference in their communities.

With its guiding philosophy that small actions can have huge impacts and its emphasis on the personal connection, the GPF has raised and granted more than $6 million dollars since its inception.

Further information GPF and its grantees can be found at www.goodpeoplefund.org.

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Nearly 70 guests gathered at a Short Hills home on Dec. 4 to hear Dan Cohen speak passionately about Music and Memory, an organization that brings personalized music via iPods to elderly individuals, most suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s, living both at home or in institutional settings.

The event was organized by a The Good People Fund, a Millburn-based organization that supports charitable causes.

Cohen’s nonprofit organization believes that music taps deep memories and enables the listener to reconnect to the world, often with dramatic results. Neuroscience research corroborates Dan’s thesis and the benefits are enormous.

M&M is 1 of 69 grantees supported financially and professionally by The Good People Fund, based in Millburn. Their funds were directed to both administrative support as M&M expands to keep up with the enormous demand for its work, and a pilot research project to help nursing homes resolve any problems they encounter while instituting the program.

About the Good People Fund

Founded in 2008, The Good People Fund, inspired by the concept of repairing the world, responds to significant problems such as poverty, disability, trauma and social isolation, primarily in the United States and Israel.

The Good People Fund provides financial support and management guidance for small to medium grassroots efforts. The Fund’s grant recipients are leading their nonprofits with annual budgets of under $500,000 and no professional development staff, but are driven and determined to make a difference in their communities.

With its guiding philosophy that small actions can have huge impacts and its emphasis on the personal connection, the GPF has raised and granted more than $6 million dollars since its inception in 2008. Further information on Music and Memory and other grantees can be found here.

Pictured: Naomi Eisenberger, Founding Executive Director of the Good People Fund, Dan Cohen, Founder of Music and Memory, host Laurie Goldberg and Deborah Klein, Assistant Director.

Pictured in the second photo: Dan Cohen explains all about the organization and how it works in nursing homes and other settings. A Q&A followed his presentation.

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On Nov. 16 in Mountain View, Naomi Eisenberger, Founding Executive Director of the Good People Fund and grantee Craig Diserens, founder of CA-based Village Harvest, along with volunteers, harvested over 900 pounds of fruit for the local food agency.

Village Harvest began two years ago, and this backyard gleaning effort gathers thousands of pounds of fresh fruit and gets it into the hands of local hunger programs where people who might not have the means to purchase costly produce can enjoy the seasonal bounty.

Within a three-hour time span, about 15 volunteers, led by a volunteer coordinator, gathered at the local food agency and received instructions and maps to nearby homes where they were to pick crate after crate of persimmons.

With the agency’s van equipped with all of the tools needed to carry out the mission – ladders, telescoping pickers to reach the highest branches, crates, gloves, rakes and more – about three hours later the results, included 900 pounds of fresh persimmons and a corps of volunteers who had come together to benefit their community.

This year, Village Harvest received a grant of $5,000 from the Good People Fund.

Village Harvest ( www.villageharvest.org) uses volunteers to glean the abundance of produce (nearly 500,000 pounds last year alone) from private property and re-developed orchards and deliver it to local hunger programs.

What differentiates Village Harvest’s efforts is their belief that the volunteers’ actions actually strengthen the community around them.

Their grant of nearly $5,000 was allocated towards their Orchards Harvesting Program, organizing volunteers to pick historic or noncommercial orchards (some planted during the Gold Rush 150 years ago) and preserve and restore old orchards for future generations.

Pictured are Naomi Eisenberger, Craig Diserens and volunteers gleaning around Mountain View.

Volunteer opportunities and information can be found at www.villageharvest.org & www.goodpeoplefund.org

Founded in 2008, The Good People Fund, inspired by the concept of repairing the world, responds to significant problems such as poverty, disability, trauma and social isolation, primarily in the United States and Israel. We provide financial support and management guidance for small to medium grassroots efforts. Our grant recipients are leading their non-profits with annual budgets under $500,000 and no professional development staff but are driven and determined to make a difference in their communities. With its guiding philosophy that small actions can have huge impacts and its emphasis on the personal connection, the GPF has raised and granted more than $6 million dollars since its inception in 2008. Further information can be found at www.goodpeoplefund.org.

–Images and info courtesy of The Good People Fund.

Good People In Mountain View! Volunteers Harvest Produce For Food Bank _ Mountain View, CA Patch

Naomi Eisenberger, founding executive director of the Good People Fund, traveled to the Bay Area last week to meet with nonprofits that the New Jersey–based agency has funded through its Tzedakah Initiative.

In Oakland, Eisenberger met with David Fox, co-founder and executive director of Amir, which brings garden-based education to Jewish summer camps. The two talked about Amir’s work with Jewish teens and college students as well as area food pantries.

Her meeting in Mountain View with Village Harvest was much more hands-on. Along with founder Craig Diserens and 15 volunteers, Eisenberger spent the morning gleaning fruit from persimmon trees in local neighborhoods — experiencing first-hand the Village Harvest mission of gathering fruit that largely would go unharvested, and then providing the bounty to local hunger programs. In three hours, the crew gathered 900 pounds of persimmons.

The Good People Fund is a 6-year-old nonprofit that supports more than 40 mostly grassroots agencies, both Jewish and non-Jewish, in the United States and another 25 in Israel. For more information, visit https://www.goodpeoplefund.org.

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