April 23, 2008

You Never Know

Several years ago we became familiar with the work being done by a Chicago-based organization called MayaWorks (http://www.mayaworks.org). MayaWorks is dedicated to helping women in Guatemala–women living in remote areas of the country. There are many services that MayaWorks’ volunteers and staff provide but the one that literally caught our eye was the now famous MayaWorks kippah. Many Mayan women possess creative talents–weaving, crocheting–hand-arts we might call them and MayaWorks has sold the items they made for years. One of the organization’s Jewish volunteers, though, recognized the possibilities of Judaica, particularly kippot. The rest, as they say, is history. Mayan women have been creating the most beautiful, colorful kippot which can now be found at weddings, b’nai mitzvot and other simchas throughout this country. In the world of clothing and fashion, you might say they were a hot item!

Kathleen Morkert, the outgoing Executive Director of MayaWorks forwarded the following e-mail this morning. She had just received it from a young woman named Susan and she knew that we would be moved by what Susan shared…

Good Morning,

Susan

We were moved to tears by this note…it said so much and proved once again that, particularly in the world of tzedakah, you never know just how meaningful things can be.

The MayaWorks kippot, by the way, are truly stunning. Consider them if you are having a simcha. We can tell you how to purchase them–be in touch.

April 22, 2008

Kid Power!

I woke up this morning to an email from Ron Adams who teaches at the Broad Meadows Middle School in Quincy, MA. Ron has been a friend for several years. His gentle temperament is well suited to teaching…kids who pass through his classes are truly blessed.

Fortunately, Ron’s special nature is used not only in the formal classroom but also in his work advising the kids who participate in the school’s after-class club devoted to ending child labor throughout the world. (You can learn more about the history of the Quincy kids’ efforts at their website, http://www.mirrorimage.com/iqbal/index.html.) For more than ten years, many students going through Broad Meadows Middle School have taken part in this special effort and because of their involvement, many have found their own lives changed in different ways. The Kids’ Campaign has brought them to such august venues as the US Congress, the United Nations, even Harvard Business School has called upon their expertise and invited them to speak on behalf of this world-wide problem.

Ron’s request was a simple one-he needed funding to provide this year’s group with t-shirts for their end-of-year activities….as he wrote…

However, I have NOT been able to find funding for the end-of-the-year tee shirts for the Quincy Kids. In previous years, Ziv paid for the tee shirts as long as they were produced with justice. I’d love, truly love, to be able to order 60 tee shirts, made with justice by a union print shop on Bobo’s wife’s label "Edun-live". These tee shirts are made with justice from South African grower to sewer, guaranteed! That’s the only kind of tee shirt worthy of covering the big hearts of the small people at Broad Meadows Middle School. Is there any way you could help us with the purchase of these 60 tee shirts? The cost of the cheapest tee shirts, the made-in-China-under-who-knows-what-kind-of-working-conditions, are $ 6.50 each. For $9.00 each, I can get the Edun-live, made-without-hurting-anyone-tee-shirts. That’s a lot of money, but the symbolism is powerful…we can shop with a conscience, wear shirts with pride and use the shirts to make others aware of producing goods which are good for people, harmless to children and good for the environment.

Who could say no to this simple but oh-so-powerful request? I told Ron that I thought the Good People Fund could underwrite these shirts-in fact, it would be an honor for us to do so!

April 17, 2008

Let All Who Are Hungry Come and Eat ….

A good friend who works with Shoah survivors and children of survivors was in touch by phone today. Would it be possible to help provide some extra funds in the form of supermarket coupons so that they could shop for Pesach food without worrying about the high cost? (Having just returned a few days ago from my own third trip to the market, I knew just what they were going to face-prices are outrageous!) We know the situations of the people she was referring to and gladly agreed. Many are very old, living on meager funds and a holiday like this could truly impact their already tenuous financial situation. In a short time I had ordered the scrip and it was on the way to each person’s home.

We were also asked if we could share in the cost of a Pesach seder for one of these individuals. With no family or friends nearby he would have had to be alone on this particularly family-centered holiday. Of course! This was an easy but incredibly important request to fulfill. Another person’s holiday would be brighter….

April 15, 2008

Making a Bat Mitzvah Meaningful

Madison Wegner and her Mom came to visit today. Madison is a thoughtful young woman about to celebrate her Bat Mitzvah. She and her Mom came to talk a bit about Madison’s mitzvah project. Madison has lots of interests but when I told her about Beit Hayeled and my recent email from Yitz Feigenbaum she was really excited….Among Madison’s many interests are kids, and Beit Hayeled’s focus on providing a safe and loving home for kids removed from their parent(s)’ supervision because of abuse or other negative situations was of particular interest to her and her family. When I mentioned that Beit Hayeled needed about $4000 annually to cover the costs of medications taken by many of the kids (these are costs above and beyond what the government provides) Madison expressed an immediate interest in trying to meet part of that expense and pledged to underwrite the costs of medication for one month. A perfect fit for both Madison and for the kids at Beit Hayeled!

Mazal tov, Madison!

April 04, 2008

Sometimes Good Things Just Happen

Sometimes things happen in the strangest of ways and good things come about with little or no real planning. Through a series of coincidences, Rabbi Adam Feldman and I were in touch with Yitz Feigenbaum at Beit Hayeled in Israel at about the same time (Beit Hayeled is a very special small home where kids who are removed from their parents by the courts have a chance to live in a loving, warm and supportive environment under the watchful care of Yitz and Irit Zucker who work together in this endeavor) …Rabbi Feldman mentioned to Yitz that he was collecting some tzedakah money from his congregants and would send it to Beit Hayeled for any needs they might have. Since it was right before Pesach, Yitz mentioned that clothing for the holiday and for the spring and summer was very much needed for some of the kids. When we learned this, I challenged Rabbi Feldman by offering a matching grant of up to $500 for any funds he might be able to send to Beit Hayeled. Sure enough, the congregation raised $650 which was matched by $500 from the Good People Fund and Yitz’s kids got what they needed to greet Spring in some beautiful new clothes.

A short time later, we received the following email from Yitz which says better than anything we can think of, just how important our joint efforts were….

Dear Rabbi Feldman & Naomi,

Yitz

Sometimes doing mitzvahs is almost too easy!

March 28, 2008

Kvod Hamet

Our friend Sue Halpern acts as our "eyes and ears" down on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi where Katrina ravaged land and lives almost three years ago. We can always count on Sue to let us know where a little help is needed. Sure enough-today’s email from Sue alerted us to the fact that an elderly woman living in Biloxi had just died and her community was seeking funds to provide her with a modest but respectful funeral since neither she nor her few remaining relatives had the means to underwrite the service and burial. How fitting that our first distribution of tzedakah would go to this very sacred mitzvah…Mrs. T. would have a proper burial and we would fulfill the mitzvah of Kvod Hamet. This feels good…real good.