GPF grantee Pesia’s Kitchen tells us that demand for food assistance has surged “dramatically” since October 7. The organization has identified new partners to donate prepared food and individual meals so that it can maintain and expand service to communities it has served for over a decade  — including shelters, safe houses for people who are homeless, asylum seekers, refugee families, and vulnerable individuals.

This month, GPF grantee Sahar reports a 400 percent increase in emotional distress messages to its trauma-support hotline compared to last year … an expansion to 24/7 operations … and 100 new volunteers monitoring open lines this month.

GPF grantee Kaima Hukuk has helped prepare hundreds of meals for displaced families and IDF soldiers in the area. The farm also organized a day for their national service volunteers to clean guest rooms at a kibbutz, providing temporary housing for families seeking safety from the fighting in the south.

In a few hours, Julie and I will board a plane in Israel and head home. Our 15 days here have been enlightening and enriching as always, but also highly emotionally charged.

To say that we were welcomed with open arms would be an understatement. Our very presence was a balm to our grantees, who have been overwhelmed with so much sadness, stress, and also conflicting emotions. I think these words from one of our grantees best express it:

“Since you came to visit, I feel I’m shining. Throughout these many months of war, I had only brief moments of synchronization in my life. Our meeting, with all that’s happening, reminded me how things have a reason, how solutions come at the right time, how good people are important, and how much hope there actually still is.”

It has been an honor and a privilege to be here on behalf of all of you, to connect with our grantees and to help make the shining and hope possible and tangible.

On Sunday, as our trip was winding down, we invited three of our Good People here to sit with us for a live webcast. As we sat and talked in Tel Aviv with Avraham Hayon of S.A.H.I., Shlomit Somech-Lehmann of Al-Baqour, and Yael Noy of Road to Recovery, we were moved by their expressions of fortitude, creativity and passion upholding and advancing hope at a time of great challenge. They are representative of all of our Good People in Israel who are doubling down on their missions to uplift their communities and strengthen the broader civil society.

If you missed it, you can click here — or scroll down — to watch our one-hour conversation, one that has already generated so many warm and positive responses from our online audience. It is at once raw and heartwarming, and underscores the realities here in Israel and the embrace of our Good People Fund family.

You will be hearing more of our observations and takeaways soon, once I’m back home and settled. In the meantime, please know how thankful I am for your friendship and support of our work together.

Blyth Taylor Lord founded Courageous Parents Network in 2014 — some years after her daughter, Cameron, and her nephew, Hayden, both died from infantile Tay-Sachs. Blyth turned her grief into purpose. CPN — a GPF alum grantee — uses education, advocacy and community to equip and empower parents of children with serious medical conditions. She speaks with GPF Exec. Director Naomi Eisenberger.

This is Good People Talk, where Good People Fund grantees describe how their vision, passion and mission are making impact in communities in the US, Israel and elsewhere around the world.

For youth across the spectrum of developmental, physical and learning abilities, the war presents unique challenges. Beth Steinberg and Miriam Avraham — both mothers of children with Down syndrome — are the Founding Directors of Shutaf (“partner” in Hebrew)  —  practicing an inclusionary model of informal programming for kids, teens, and young adults across abilities. In this conversation with Good People Fund Executive Director Naomi Eisenberger, Beth and Miriam talk about the war’s effect on their work and impact.