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?

Conservation, ecology, green…today’s buzzwords. Finally, the world is beginning to pay attention to preserving natural resources and protecting the environment. In truth, many people promoted these values for years; and some even put their beliefs into very substantial efforts. Dr. Will Rosenblatt of Yale-New Haven Hospital was one of these visionaries. As an anesthesiologist at that hospital, Dr. Rosenblatt saw first-hand the waste that accumulated in the hospital’s operating rooms…and waste in this instance refers to equipment and supplies. Critical, open-but-unused medical supplies from operating suites and other medical locations nationwide often go into our nation’s landfills due to stringent insurance and legal restrictions that do not allow them to be used in other procedures even if they were never touched. REMEDY, Recovered Medical Equipment for the Developing World was started by Dr. Rosenblatt in 1991. In that time, millions and millions of dollars worth of equipment and supplies have been recovered and shipped to poor medical facilities around the world where they are desperately needed.

What makes REMEDY even more important is that their efforts have been adopted by hospitals across the country, thus compounding the benefits of this program many times over. The REMEDY website (www.remedyinc.org) serves as a link as well as a teaching tool for other facilities that have joined or are interested in becoming a part of the network.

Now to the very unfortunate reality-REMEDY is one of the many, many small non-profits that has been impacted by the current economic downturn. Despite their very modest budget, shortfalls in fund-raising have forced them to make several changes including the cut back of their very minimal staff. The Good People Fund grant was designated to help them wherever the need was greatest. We believe that this is a program that must continue its good work which impacts both our environment and the well-being and health of people around the world.

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As we walk down the Passover food aisles of our local supermarket we cannot help but wonder how people who are experiencing economic difficulties can possibly prepare for the holiday. The trip to the butcher was even more unsettling…

What we witnessed in both places should not have been a surprise…we were getting far more requests for help from several of the programs that we work with than ever before…more and more families and individuals were struggling to make this holiday special, whether it be in Israel or here in the States.

Through the generosity of several donors who recognize these needs the Good People Fund has been able to provide supermarket gift cards not only for several Holocaust survivors but also for Second Generation people who are struggling to make ends meet. Additionally, in Israel, we are excited to know that our funds have helped dozens of families celebrate in a proper, menschlich way.

During this past year’s election season we all learned a great deal about the state of Alaska-its politics and its natural beauty. We never realized that we would shortly develop our own personal connection to the state. Earlier this year we wrote about the fine work being done by an organization called Casting For Recovery which was founded in 1996 with the goal of helping breast cancer survivors recover, both physically and emotionally, through the unique benefits of fly-fishing…a sport which uses just those muscles most affected by breast cancer surgery. Couple the physical benefits with a weekend retreat in a beautiful natural setting, surrounded not only by other women experiencing the very same turmoil, but also a group of volunteers committed in every way to making the event transformative, and you have a very special experience that can truly change everyone who takes part.

While we whole-heartedly support the CFR program and are thrilled by the fact that it has grown so successfully since its inception, the Good People Fund is committed to helping organizations that are a less established and more grass-roots in origin. The question then becomes…how do we publicize and promote a program that we believe is one of the best of its kind for breast cancer survivors and still remain within our own guidelines?

It did not take us long to come up with a solution to this problem. CFR has chapters all over the country, many of them small and struggling to raise the funds necessary for their own local fly-fishing retreat. They are run by local women, many of whom have been touched by breast cancer and are either in active treatment or some years beyond their initial diagnosis. Who could use a little help in their fund-raising? After some initial conversations with CFR’s staff, the group in Alaska was identified as a potential match for us…and what a group it is! With a strong and active foundation of women who are all avid fly-fisherwomen, we know that the Alaska chapter will hold a successful retreat in what is probably the most beautiful natural surroundings to be found in this country. Our challenge to the group was that we would match up to $2500 of "new money" they raise between now and their July retreat. The women I was in touch with were thrilled with the challenge and before long I received word of several fund-raisers being planned to help meet their goal. Now-if we could only find a way to get to Alaska to be part of the retreat…