There was a massive truck of donated food to unload, a long and winding ramp for a man with multiple handicaps to be built, and structures to fix, paint and spruce up – among other projects. Plus, just visiting with people.

So when nearly two dozen Good People Fund (GPF) volunteers – many of them from Congregation B’nai Israel in Millburn, NJ, and others from Ohio and California and other states – arrived in McRoberts, KY, earlier this summer, the to-do list was set, teams were created, and the work began.

This was tikkun olam of the down and dirty sort – an elbow greased and sweaty few days of good works to honor and practice the sacred Jewish value of repairing the world – a guiding GPF principle.

“We are trying to make a little corner of the world slightly better, sooner, for some of these people,” said Peter Freimark, a volunteer from Cleveland and a GPF Board member.

For sure, this town of about 1,000 people – in the heart of Appalachia – suffers the sort of poverty that marks the greater region but is often overlooked.  Walk the town and unemployment, economic stagnation and lack of social services and opportunity appear not as distant statistics, but rather as human faces.

“We are all familiar with urban poverty, but rural poverty is a completely different type of animal,” said Naomi Eisenberger, GPF Executive Director and Co-Founder.

“Every trip to McRoberts has given me and all of our committed volunteers greater understanding of the unique types of problems that affect people living there.  Beyond the physical things that we leave behind, the fact that we care and come back year after year is an indication that we recognize that these people are there and that we care about them.”

Susie Duncan, a 14-year resident of McRoberts and the designated point person there for GPF, described the relationship between the volunteers and the town as unique – a human-to-human connection in its most benevolent form.

“What they do here means more than they could even imagine,” she said. “Most families here live paycheck to paycheck, trying to figure out whether to feed their children or pay the electric bill. To realize there are people in the world who care about us and our well being gives hope to a very cut-off community.”

It was into nearly every room and corner of Duncan’s house and a side shed that volunteers transferred a 53-foot trailer load of canned food and other non-perishable items, plus household goods and personal hygiene products.   Duncan will distribute the items through schools, churches and community centers, and also deliver directly to elderly and homebound people in McRoberts.

Across town, teams of GPF volunteers were immersed in other projects.

At one home, a lengthy ramp began to link a house steeped on a hill with the road below, easing the way for a wheelchair-bound man to get from his home and circulate within the community.  Members of Congregation Shaarai Shomayim, a synagogue in Lancaster, PA, later finished the job.

At another home, volunteers painted a badly faded structure for a recently widowed woman with no resources to make improvements.  “This might brighten her outlook because there isn’t a whole lot of brightness in her life right now,” Duncan said.

This summer marked the eighth year that GPF, in partnership with Congregation B’nai Israel, brought a volunteer corps to McRoberts.  The delegation grows each year, and many participants – ranging from high school students to seniors – have made the trip numerous times.

For Jesse Moehlman, 24, a University of Michigan graduate and member of Congregation B’nai Israel, this year marked a fifth trip to the Kentucky town.

“What keeps me going is the realization that this is meaningful work and it is making a real difference,” he said. “The town and the people are very familiar to me at this point, and I feel a visceral connection and sense of responsibility there.  It’s very important to me.”

In an opinion piece in the New Jersey Jewish News this summer, Rabbi Steven Bayar of Congregation B’nai Israel summed up how tikkun olam drives this annual service project in McRoberts, and indeed the broader reach of GPF.

“Hope and respect for others are the greatest gifts you can give,” he wrote. “That is a lesson sorely needed in these times.”

Duncan agreed.  “When you feel so isolated and that no one cares or is looking, and then The Good People Fund group comes in here and does things for people they don’t know, it restores faith in the goodness of people and what they can do.   If more people did this, the world would be a much better place.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Glenn Rosenkrantz
Glenn.rosenkrantz@gmail.com 646-245-8975

THE GOOD PEOPLE FUND ANNOUNCES NEARLY $1.5 MILLION IN
ISRAEL- AND U.S.-FOCUSED GRANTS

Diverse Group of Social Service and Humanitarian Organizations and Initiatives

July 20, 2017 — The Good People Fund (GPF) today announced nearly $1.5 million in Israel- and U.S.- focused grants as part of its mission supporting and advancing grassroots, community-based organizations meeting some of the most compelling and pressing societal challenges.

Across the spectrum of social and humanitarian needs – from poverty and hunger, to eldercare and youth-at-risk – the grants underscore GPF’s commitment to innovative, impactful work that improves and lifts lives and communities and are models for replication elsewhere.

“We proudly support and partner with these visionary organizations designing creative approaches that fill gaps in social and humanitarian services and structures across Israel and the United States,” said Naomi Eisenberger, GPF’s Co-Founder and Executive Director.

“Their work and impact underscore what change agents can achieve when their considerable entrepreneurial talents and passions are channeled toward the sacred value of tikkun olam, repair of the world.”

Since its inception in 2008, Millburn, NJ-based GPF has directed nearly $11.3 million to more than 130 non-profit organizations in Israel and the United States. Of the nearly $1.5 million announced today for the fiscal year that ended June 30, $1,008,033 will go to Israeli organizations, and $455,690 will be directed at programs in the United States.

“In each case, an individual or group of individuals saw a pressing need and developed an impassioned and unique way to address it,” Eisenberger said. “Our funding and mentoring give them visibility and recognition and hope that others will join us in supporting their work and deepening their impact.”

The Good People Fund targets initiatives in key crucial areas, including: Human Needs; Inclusion; Health; Women’s Empowerment; Children and Youth Welfare; Elder Care; Hunger and Food Rescue; Alternative Healing of Body and Mind; Literacy and Education; Military and Veteran Welfare; and, Refugee Support.

A full list of new grantees appears at www.goodpeoplefund.org. Among the grants announced today are:

• Pesia’s Kitchen – $61,800 for the collection and distribution of 200 tons of food per year to shelters, day care centers and other venues serving needy people in and around Tel Aviv. (Human Needs)

• Shalheveth – $43,400 to support operations – including a social worker and van driver – to enable Israeli adults with severe disabilities to lead autonomous lives and reach their potential in a non-institutional setting. (Inclusion)

• Jeremy’s Circle – $39,505 to support a community of care and socialization for Israeli children and teens who have a family member with cancer or who have lost a family member to the disease. (Health)

• Ba’asher Telchi – $22,500 to increase staffing and programming supporting religious and ultra-Orthodox women in Israel economically, socially and emotionally as they endure a separation or divorce. (Women’s Empowerment)

• SAHI (Special Grace Unit) – $32,000 to expand the organization’s programs for at-risk Israeli youth who deliver food packages to needy people and take part in other acts of loving kindness throughout Israel. (Children and Youth Welfare)

• LILY – Lifeforce in Later Years – $12,000 to support a social worker position in a community-based eldercare program that serves older seniors living at home in New York City. (Elder Care)

• Project Kruvit – $36,500 for the purchase of food for freshly cooked, high-quality holiday meals prepared by volunteers and delivered to 5,000 people throughout Israel for Pesach, Shavuot and Rosh Hashanah. (Hunger)

• Village Harvest – $6,000 to support fruit tree harvests from backyards and small orchards in Northern California, and the distribution of the food to organizations and needy people in the Bay Area. (Food Rescue)

• HAMA Israel (Humans and Animals in Mutual Assistance) – $60,675 to support several programs including one employing art, music and animal-assisted therapy to heal children in the Negev region traumatized by rocket attacks from nearby Gaza. (Alternative Healing of Body and Mind)

• Breaking the Chain Through Education – $4,500 to support the rescue of trafficked children in Ghana and restore their dignity by putting them on a path of education and renewal. (Literacy and Education)

• Plant it Forward – $16,600 to support organic farming initiatives and projects for refugees in Houston, allowing them to use their existing skills to grow crops to be sold at farmers markets and through farm shares. (Refugee Support)

Inspired by the Jewish value of tikkun olam (repairing the world), The Good People Fund responds to significant challenges such as poverty, disability, trauma and social isolation in the United States and Israel. The Good People Fund provides financial support and management guidance to small and medium-sized grassroots efforts that are determined to make a difference in their communities. With its guiding philosophy that small actions can have huge impact, The Good People Fund has raised and granted more than $11 million since its founding in 2008. www.goodpeoplefund.org

The Good People Fund (www.goodpeoplefund.org), based in Millburn NJ, mentors and supports grassroots community based organizations led by visionaries who respond in creative ways to address society’s most intractable problems, be it hunger, poverty, disability, trauma and more. Since its inception in 2008, the fund has granted more than 5.3 million dollars in grants to more than 60 nonprofit organizations in Israel.

“We focus our efforts on those individuals who have chosen to use their talents and their passion to creatively resolve some problem in our world, whether its focus be as insurmountable as hunger or as defined as supporting women leaving forced or arranged marriages,” explains Naomi Eisenberger, Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Good People Fund. “In each case the individual or small group acts as a visionary inspiring others to join their work to effect change. Since 2008, we have been able to provide more than $8,000,000 in grants to more than 150 non profit organizations based primarily in the United States and Israel.”

Highlights of the Fund’s 2015/2016 fiscal year grant recipients in Israel include; $335,000 for organizations focused on kids including Kaima, a program that utilizes sustainable organic farming to help young people who cannot learn in traditional environments and S.A.H.I. an organization that utilizes compassion and giving as tools to help youth-at-risk; $123,000 to organizations that alleviate hunger such as Pesia’s Kitchen in Tel Aviv which distributes literally tons of donated food and fresh produce;  $81,000 to military organizations like Tzvika Levy’s Lone Soldier Program; $58,000 to organizations focused on easing poverty including Ten Gav, a crowdfunding platform that helps social workers manage the needs of Israel’s most vulnerable citizens; $45,000 to organizations that promote women’s empowerment including Yotsrot which trains women, exiting the cycle of abuse and prostitution, in fashion design and Ba’asher Teichi which supports Haredi women navigating the divorce process; $55,000 for organizations focused on alternative healing, like HAMA Israel’s animal-assisted therapy program that reduces emotional pain for many disorders; and $8,800 towards organizations like In Their Shoes which creates awareness and understanding of dementia and aging.

Project Kruvit is the most recent Israeli organization to become a grantee of The Good People Fund. This all volunteer program prepares and distributes high quality meals to 5,000 people for Passover, Shavout and Rosh Hashanah; a logistical challenge that involves an army of volunteers (about 8,000) who cook, shop, and deliver meals during a 48-hour period immediately before the chaggim (holidays) begin.

In all, the Good People Fund ended the 2015/2016 fiscal year making grants in excess of $1,500,000 to programs in Israel and the United States.  Highlights of the Fund’s U.S. grant recipients include; $51,000 to organizations that address the needs of children including Atlanta’s Creating Connected Communities that trains local teens in leadership skills with a special focus on homelessness and advocacy and connects them to  meaningful volunteer opportunities with disadvantaged kids; $38,000 to organizations like Boston-based Courageous Parents Network that empower parents to care for children with serious illness by maintaining an up to date virtual community system and $18,000 to organizations focused on alternative healing of body and mind such as Shelter Music Boston that performs live classical chamber music for displaced shelter residents who might not otherwise have the financial means or opportunity to experience music in less-accessible venues. Other grants were directed towards organizations focused on eldercare, hunger, women’s empowerment, poverty and veterans.

“One of the Fund’s most important goals is to give visibility and recognition to these nascent efforts so that others will join us in helping to support their work. We know that with the right amount of fiscal support and mentoring their work can flourish emphasizes Eisenberger.  “With this in mind we continue our commitment to seek out these inspiring individuals and their good work and invest in their growth and success.”

Other philanthropists that would like to support these small grassroots organizations through the Good People Fund should contact Naomi at naomi@goodpeoplefund.org

Founded in 2008, The Good People Fund, inspired by the Jewish concept of tikkun olam (repairing the world), responds to significant problems such as poverty, disability, trauma and social isolation, primarily in the United States and Israel. The GPF provides financial support and management guidance for small to medium grassroots efforts whose grant recipients are leading their non-profits with modest annual budgets 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 $8,000,000. Further information can be found at www.goodpeoplefund.org.   

A connection many years ago, through the Ziv Tzedakah Fund, introduced Nina Mogilnik to the Good People Fund’s Founding Executive Director Naomi Eisenberger.  This Spring, she joined their Board of Trustees. The Good People Fund (www.goodpeoplefund.org) is a national organization rooted in the Jewish tradition of tikkun olam (repairing the world) that offers financial support and mentorship to small, effective initiatives in Israel and the U.S.

“We could not be happier having Nina join our dedicated Board of Trustees, as she brings extensive experience in the nonprofit and philanthropy worlds. Nina is a grant maker with a strong commitment to relationship building with grantees in addition to a central focus on  education, mental health, disabilities, and other social issues.  This connects deeply with our mission and philosophy,” said Naomi Eisenberger, Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Good People Fund.

“I am delighted to deepen my longstanding connection with The Good People Fund by joining its board of trustees.  This feels like such a seamless evolution, and a wonderful way to enhance my more than decade-long involvement with The Fund and its important and urgently needed work.”  said Mogilnik.

Nina’s professional career has encompassed work in the philanthropic, nonprofit and government sectors, including as the first Senior Program Officer of the Altman Foundation, and as Founding Director of the Office of Public Private Partnerships for the New York City Administration for Children’s Services, during the Bloomberg Administration.  She is presently consulting to a select group of nonprofit and foundation clients and also serves on the board of Birch Family Services, a NYC-based nonprofit educational and disability services organization.  She is also an avocational writer, and has had a number of essays about her family’s experiences dealing with Alzheimer’s and autism published in Hadassah Magazine and in The Jewish Week.  Nina holds a BA in philosophy from Union College and MPhil from the University of Chicago.  She currently lives with her family in Great Neck, New York.

About The Good People Fund
Founded in 2008, The Good People Fund, inspired by the Jewish concept of tikkun olam (repairing the world), responds to significant problems such as poverty, disability, trauma and social isolation, primarily in the United States and Israel. The GPF provides financial support and management guidance for small to medium grassroots efforts whose 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 $7 million dollars. Further information can be found at www.goodpeoplefund.org.

For further information, contact news@goodpeoplefund.org or 508-314-4304

A connection many years ago through the Ziv Tzedakah Fund, introduced Larry Paul to the Good People Fund’s Founding Executive Director Naomi Eisenberger.  This Spring, he joined their Board of Trustees. The Good People Fund (www.goodpeoplefund.org) is a national organization rooted in the Jewish tradition of tikkun olam (repairing the world) that offers financial support and mentorship to small, effective initiatives in Israel and the U.S.

“While Larry’s years of service and knowledge in the financial field as a planner will serve as an invaluable asset to our organization, his enthusiasm for our tzedakah model is equally important. He is  a mentor in his field and his dedication as a chazzan to his Jewish community are both values we admire and associate with at the Fund,” said Naomi Eisenberger, Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Good People Fund.

Larry brings his expertise in many areas to the board of trustees.  He is a professional Certified Financial Planner™, Registered Representative and Investment Advisor Representative with Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. A natural educator, he teaches continuing education classes and conducts seminars for investors.  He is the creator of the “Brain Trust,” a group of financial planning professionals who meet bi-weekly to discuss investment ideas.  Larry also is chazzan for High Holiday services with Rabbi Avis Miller at Sixth and I Historic Synagogue in Washington, DC, where this year they will mark their  34th year together. He is a University of Maryland graduate, and proudly holds Series 7, 24, 31, 63 and 65 securities licenses.  He is married and the father of three children and one grandchild.

“The Fund’s Tzedakah work is definitely part of the work for Tikkun Olam. We have an amazing set of Good People beneficiaries meeting peoples’ needs in areas of Hunger Relief, Womens’ Empowerment, Poverty Solutions, Veterans’ Needs, Elders’ Assistance, Literacy, Kids’ Needs and more. The Good People Fund is part of the solution.”

About The Good People Fund

Founded in 2008, The Good People Fund, inspired by the Jewish concept of tikkun olam (repairing the world), responds to significant problems such as poverty, disability, trauma and social isolation, primarily in the United States and Israel. The GPF provides financial support and management guidance for small to medium grassroots efforts whose 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 $7 million dollars. Further information can be found at www.goodpeoplefund.org.

For further information, contact news@goodpeoplefund.org or 508-314-4304

In 2008, a trip to a barbershop across the street from the elementary school where he was teaching sparked an idea for Alvin Irby. While observing one of his first grade students become antsy while waiting for a haircut, Irby thought to himself, “He really should be practicing his reading right now. I wish I had a book to give him.” That night Irby wrote down an idea to bring literacy opportunities to barbershops.  In 2013, he founded the nonprofit Reading Holiday Project, Inc. and created Barbershop Books (www.barbershopbooks.org), a community-based literacy program that places child-friendly reading spaces in barbershops for boys ages 4-8. The program uses a curated list of 15 culturally relevant, age appropriate, and gender responsive children’s books. This innovative program aims to give boys greater access to engaging books and to encourage boys to read for fun.  Unlike school or library- based literacy programs, Barbershop Books brings books and reading into a male- centered environment. It connects barbers and parents to the early reading experiences of young boys in a positive and culturally meaningful way.

Irby’s Barbershop Books program recently received an opening grant of $7,500 directed towards the purchase of new books and bookshelves for additional barbershop participation from The Good People Fund (https://www.goodpeoplefund.org). The Fund is an organization rooted in the Jewish tradition of tikkun olam (repairing the world) and offers financial support and mentorship to small, effective initiatives in Israel and the U.S.

“Our mission from the start was to close the reading achievement gap for young black boys by using child-centered and high-impact strategies,” explains Irby. “We are grateful to our supporters, like the Good People Fund, who allow us to continue and grow this work.”

Alvin Irby studied Sociology and Economics at Grinnell College and received his M.S. degree in General Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education and his MPA degree in Public and Nonprofit Management and Policy from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service. He has taught kindergarten and first grade in both charter and traditional public schools in Harlem and the Bronx. Prior to creating Barbershop Books, he served as Education Director at the Boys’ Club of New York in East Harlem.

“Alvin Irby is a passionate educator who is guided by his love of teaching and determination to make positive change in his community. He is committed to the vision he has set forth.” says Naomi Eisenberger, Founder and Executive Director of The Good People Fund.  “Alvin is a great example that one person can make a significant difference and we support all of his organization’s efforts.”

Currently, there are reading spaces in 11 New York City barbershops, reaching more than 440 boys annually. Just recently, NY1 News selected Barbershop Books founder Alvin Irby as the New Yorker of the Week. The immediate goal of the program is to change the way young boys and their families think about and interact with books. Barbershop Books uses barbershops and a curated list of books to help young boys of color identify as readers.

This ‘good person’- led non-profit joins nearly 80 other non-profits financially supported and professionally guided by The Good People Fund (www.goodpeoplefund.org) in the U.S. and Israel.  Founded in 2008, The Good People Fund, inspired by the Jewish concept of tikkun olam (repairing the world), responds to significant problems such as poverty, disability, trauma and social isolation, primarily in the United States and Israel. The GPF provides financial support and management guidance for small to medium grassroots efforts whose 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 $7 million dollars. Further information can be found at www.goodpeoplefund.org.

For further information, contact news@goodpeoplefund.org or 508-314-4304