There is no question that the vast amount of work we do is joyous and nearly always brings a smile to our face. After all, what could be bad about helping people?

And yet, on a rare occasion, we are called upon to help in what can only be described as a tragedy. That was the situation one morning a few weeks ago when we opened an email from Pam Koner, founder of Family to Family, which directs its work to helping people who live in rural poverty in communities around the country.

Pam had just received a request from one of her contacts in a Navajo community in New Mexico. The story was simple but incredibly sad. During the night of January 10 a fire broke out in the home of a community member. In addition to the parents, there are 7 children between the ages of 2 and 18. Killed in the fire was a five year old daughter and seriously injured was a developmentally disabled seven year old who was airlifted to an Albuquerque hospital. In addition to housing, the family needed help with providing a proper burial for their young child. Could we help?

How could we not?

"Dear All,

Julie :):)"

That was the note that came in today’s mail along with a very generous check which Julie and her family decided should be used to provide books and other materials for the kids at Beit Hayeled in Israel. Julie is a great lover of books and reading and, in addition to donating books to several places near her home, wanted to help kids in Israel, as well. Yitz Feigenbaum at the group home tells us this will provide a lot of new and interesting resources to the kids living there.

We couldn’t be happier about making the connection, thus allowing Julie to share her interest in books with kids who might otherwise not have this opportunity!

On October 6, 2008 we shared the story of Max Wallack, a young man from the Boston area who had just celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. It was Max’s mitzvah project which got our attention. Remembering his great-grandmother who suffered from Alzheimer’s and lived with Max and his family for a time, Max decided to collect puzzles and donate them to local nursing homes. It seems that after a little research Max learned that for patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s doing puzzles can be very helpful – what a great way to honor his great-grandmother’s memory.

Fast forward to December 2009…much has happened to Max and Puzzles to Remember. As he had promised, Max, working on his own, filed for and received federal non-profit status for Puzzles to Remember (in a record 4 weeks!) and has since gone on to win several grants to help him with his work. He has now collected thousands of puzzles, expanded his beautiful web site which we recommend you visit (www.puzzlestoremember.org), is donating puzzles to several veteran’s homes, and just this week was notified that he has qualified as a Giraffe by our friends at the Giraffe Project in Washington State!

Despite our offer to help Max with some of the shipping expenses he incurs he refuses to accept any funding from the Good People Fund. As he has mentioned several times, "there are way too many hungry and sick people who need your help. I will get more grants to help me with my expenses."

We can’t help but wonder what Max will be doing next…

While this photo reminds most people of life on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in past generations, we know that even today, many elderly Jews still call that area "home." One of our favorite tzedakah opportunities comes to us twice each year from Project Ezra which offers social services to more than 400 frail elderly in the area. For so many of these lonely elders, often beset by physical and emotional problems, having sufficient nourishing food on the table, day after day is not always easy. Limited income frequently means that as the end of the month nears, there are fewer dollars to spend on food.

The solution is relatively easy. With the cooperation of the local store, each elder who qualifies receives a monthly allowance of $30 (or $360 yearly) to spend on food when their own funds have been depleted. The $2700 check we sent the market today will cover 15 people for the next six months. (We’ve just added two more people to the list) A pretty good arrangement, we think, and one we would love to expand if the resources were available.

We have written often about Dr. Neal Goldberg and his troupe of professionally-trained medical clowns, Lev Leytzan-Compassionate Clown Alley. This group of young adults has delivered their special clowning talents to many places here in the States, in Europe and in Israel, bringing smiles and a little bit of happiness to lonely, ill or disabled people wherever they travel.

This past October we shared the story of the group’s trip to Eastern Europe and the impact their visits had on many elderly and isolated Shoah survivors. They were so welcome, in fact, that a new invitation to return was on the table if they could get the funding to make it possible. At the time we offered to match up to $1000 of any support they could attract to make the trip possible, and before long Neal reported that he had successfully raised even more than our original $1000 challenge.

Well Рthe clowns departed last week and an email I received from the group this morning confirms that the trip is having the impact they hoped it would have on both the clowns who are traveling with Neal and on the people, both young and old, who are enjoying their antics. In addition to their performance at the local Caf̩ Europa (a social club for Survivors) and a nursing home (for survivors) the group:

…spent the morning at nursing home, an institution with adults with dementia and a senior facility. The boys worked hard – room visits, impromptu shows. The afternoon and evening has been spent working with institutionalized kids…, a shelter for abandoned and abused kids and children’s hospitals … what an incredible day!

We are so happy to have helped make this trip possible. Neal’s group has proven over and over the many benefits of medical clowning.

For 12 kids in Jerusalem, this Hanukkah may be the best ever.

For years, Karyn and Zehava, two friends in the Baka neighborhood have worked in the simplest and quietest way possible, taking on the responsibility of helping to feed and clothe several other families in their area. They lead a group of neighbors who provide monthly food packages for nine needy families, all of whom are vetted by a social worker and all living in extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

We were asked if we could help with some Hanukkah gifts this year, and as in the past, we were excited about what we might make possible with Karyn and Zehava’s suggestions. Karyn wrote that they had thought long and hard about buying toys that would no doubt be tossed aside, broken or forgotten, in a short time. They came up with another idea that, after some thought on our part, we quickly agreed to support. So – this morning, there are, we hope, twelve kids sporting colorful safety helmets, riding shiny new bikes through their neighborhood, all made possible by the kindness of our donors and the generosity of the local bike store!