The Good People Fund, www.goodpeoplefund.org, is a US-based organization that provides financial support and professional guidance to innovative grassroots non-profits.  This month The Herb Alpert Foundation has granted them a further $150,000, bringing their total commitment to $800,000 over the last six years.  The partnership is based on strategic grant making and philanthropy, supporting programs that find inventive ways to focus on issues related to well-being in the United States.

“Through the work of the Good People Fund,” explained Rona Sebastian, President of The Herb Alpert Foundation, “we can help these grass-roots programs get a foothold and receive the funds and support they desperately need to impact change.”  The Foundation, www.herbalpertfoundation.org, is the vision of legendary musician, sculptor, painter, and philanthropist Herb Alpert and his wife, Grammy Award winner Lani Hall.

“We are grateful for the continued support that the Herb Alpert Foundation has committed over the years,” explains Naomi Eisenberger, The Good People Fund’s Founding Executive Director.  “The partnership has given us the ability to discover and nurture many unique below-the-radar initiatives that routinely find exciting ways to ease the burden of hunger, homelessness, poverty, elder care disability and more, and in so doing impact vast numbers of people.  This partnership is strengthened by a shared core philosophy of elevating the work of highly effective organizations that strive to change the world in positive ways.”

Founded in 2008, The Good People Fund, inspired by the concept of repairing the world, responds to significant problems such as poverty, disability, trauma and social isolation, offering financial support and management guidance for small to medium grassroots efforts in the United States and Israel.  The Good People Fund believes that small actions can have huge impacts through personal connections.  Since its 2008 inception, the organization has raised more than $6 million dollars.

For more information on The Good People Fund or how you can support its grantees and their efforts, visit www.goodpeoplefund.org

Contact: Rachel Litcofsky 508-314-4304, Rachel@goodpeoplefund.org

As the result of a national online search to identify visionaries changing the world around them, the Good People Fund  (GPF) has welcomed Helene Bortz and the San Diego based non-profit, The Jewish Gift Closet-San Diego Community G’mach as the latest grantee of the national Tzedakah micro-philanthropic fund (www.goodpeoplefund.org). GPF seeks unique and highly effective programs led by good people, and invests in their exciting tikkun olam (repairing the world) work.

The G’mach was one of over 170 entities to apply to receive funding, professional development and guidance from The Good People Fund. The 12-week process included an intense crowdfunding campaign run on the Jewish crowdfunding platform Jewcer.  The G’mach and five other non-profits were among the finalists that collectively raised through crowdfunding over $19,000 and then received matching grants totaling $21,000 from The Good People Fund.  Together, the crowdfunding and matching grants generated over $40,000.  Since the completion of the campaign, the G’mach has joined the 69 other on-going GPF grantees in the US and Israel.

The G’mach, an acronym for Gemilut Chasadim or deeds of loving kindness, is San Diego’s only gift closet. The G’mach is a place where people donate items they have no use for. Items donated to the G’mach are given for free to recipients in need from a warehouse located off of Miramar Road. The G’mach is unique since it also attempts to find solutions for those in need, including; professional adult mentoring & advocacy; rent subsidies; emergency cash needs; shabbat and holiday meals, internships, youth group workshops and family life cycle needs.

The G’mach was founded by Bortz during the economic downturn in June 2009 when she became increasingly aware that many Jewish families were experiencing financial difficulties.  Along with Myrice Goldberg, the two opened their first location in a building lent by a friend. Shortly after, donations of clothing, household appliances and baby equipment began to arrive which necessitated the rental of a local warehouse where they ultimately set up a no-cost shopping experience for those needing goods.  As they spoke with clients, they soon became aware of the need for emergency services such as rent and job mentorship. Those services have also been added to what the G’mach provides.

They learned that many of those they were helping were isolated and disenfranchised and would benefit from connections with caring individuals and communities.  “We decrease their social isolation and elevate their human dignity by connecting each family/individual client to a caring person in the community or opportunity to be part of a synagogue community especially over the Jewish holidays,” explains Bortz.  “Needs are assessed on an individual basis and many clients are not only impoverished but have special needs or may have mental illness. We treat each client with dignity and caring as we would want a family member to be treated.”

Naomi Eisenberger, founding Executive Director of The Good People Fund explains “Helene and Myrice recognized that there was a significant vacuum for these families and individuals and their needs were going unmet.”

So how did the G’mach go from crowdfunding finalist to GPF grantee?  Naomi offers the following: “In addition to raising funds during the crowdfunding campaign, they became a grantee because the G’mach actually lives the mission of the Good People Fund. They are passionate individuals who spend their time improving the lives of those who need help; visionaries who see creative solutions where others see problems or turn a blind eye. Like so many of our grantees, they want to make an even greater impact but just don’t have the resources of a development staff or significant budget and that is where we step in.”

In addition to supporting their current programs, the G’mach plans to apply the new funds to reach more single women with small children, and others who have recently become unemployed. They plan to distribute supplemental rent in emergency situations, while they help create a more stable long-term plan with vocational mentoring and networking for jobs.

Now housed in a permanent warehouse, the G’mach serves hundreds of needy families and individuals throughout the San Diego community with additional programs and services. Further information or ways to support the G’mach can be found at www.goodpeoplefund.org.

Founded in 2008, The Good People Fund, inspired by the concept of repairing the world, responds to significant problems such as poverty, disability, trauma and social isolation, primarily in the United States and Israel. We provide financial support and management guidance for small to medium grassroots efforts. Our 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 $6 million dollars since its inception in 2008. Learn more at www.goodpeoplefund.org.

This past month, Naomi Eisenberger, Founding Executive Director of the national tzedakah initiative, The Good People Fund (www.goodpeoplefund.org) traveled to Atlanta to experience how two new grantees in Atlanta demonstrate their Tikkun Olam spirit everyday.

During the 72-hour trip, Eisenberger helped volunteers from Second Helpings Atlanta (SHA) unload and deliver 1000 pounds of fresh produce, prepared foods and meats for the food pantry at Malachi’s Storeroom housed in St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. She then joined 450 volunteers to distribute toys and holiday cheer to a room of 750 eager kids with Amy’s Holiday Party, a signature event of Creating Connected Communities (CCC). Lastly, she fit in some professional development with the new GPF Education Outreach Consultant, Atlanta resident Robyn Faintich, founder of JewishGPS LLC.

Founded ten years ago by octogenarian Guenther Hecht as a social action project for Temple Sinai in suburban Atlanta, SHA is today an independent non-profit organization that utilizes more than 300 volunteers to pick up food largely from local supermarkets and some restaurants, 364 days a year (closed for Christmas).

“To know that Second Helpings Atlanta repeats this entire scenario several times each and every day is astounding”, says Eisenberger. “Even more amazing is the fact that they operate with one part-time employee and a minimal budget.  We couldn’t help but wonder why this model couldn’t be developed in so many more places, eradicating or reducing the seemingly impossible problem of hunger once and for all.”

Amy’s Holiday Party is a signature event of CCC. At the age of 12, Amy Sacks (now Amy Sacks Zeide) was stunned to learn of the theft of holiday toys at a local shelter. She immediately donated some funds to help replace those toys and the next year, as a Bat Mitzvah project, organized Amy’s Holiday Party which gathers kids from local social service agencies and offers them a fun day ending with the gifting of toys and games. This year’s party was Amy’s 20th and The Good People Fund was present and experienced what can only be called an extravaganza. What makes this event even more meaningful is that teens who volunteer are responsible for much of what takes place. Amy’s organization, Creating Connected Communities, provides leadership training to local teens with a curriculum that focuses on homelessness and advocacy. The holiday party is part of the program.  “We knew Amy’s story from many years ago and were not surprised to finally meet a gracious young woman who hasn’t forgotten how small actions can have a significant impact”, says Eisenberger.

As grantees both groups not only receive funding, a combined total of nearly $10,000 in 2014, but mentorship and professional guidance to help them successfully grow and reach their full potential.

While Eisenberger’s trip was busy with events, she was also there to meet and strategize with Atlanta resident Robyn Faintich, who now serves as the Education & Outreach Consultant to the Good People Fund. Faintich brings over 17 years of Jewish communal professional experience in areas that include youth movements, day schools, community teen initiatives, early childhood education, congregational family education, and adult education.  In August 2010, Robyn launched JewishGPS LLC in an effort to help guide Jewish organizations in a variety of aspects of Jewish education.  Robyn is responsible for the Good People Fund’s new education initiative, Grab ‘n’ Go lessons, created to compliment the existing and available and downloadable curriculum.

“Grab ’n’ Go are tzedakah-based lesson plans that encapsulate a profile of a Good Person, an existing grantee, include interactive discussion guides, a corresponding text study, specialized learning activities and suggestions for hands-on social action engagement, explains Faintich.  What sets them apart from other modular or instant lessons is that they profile a person or organization doing this good work, today.” The curriculum and Grab ‘n’ Go lessons can be downloaded for free at https://www.goodpeoplefund.org/jewish-learning-about-tzedakah/gpf-grab-n-go-lessons/

Faintich has also been instrumental in the increase of GPF’s social media presence.

Founded in 2008, The Good People Fund, inspired by the concept of repairing the world, responds to significant problems such as poverty, disability, trauma and social isolation, primarily in the United States and Israel. We provide financial support and management guidance for small to medium grassroots efforts. Our 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 $6 million dollars since its inception in 2008. Further information about Second Helpings Atlanta, Creating Connected Communities, other grantees and all of the education programming, can be found at www.goodpeoplefund.org.

Amir, an organization that inspires young adults to pursue social justice through gardening, along with two other Bay Area non-profits, Sunday Friends and Village Harvest, are amongst recipients of grants awarded by The Good People Fund in 2014. The Fund discovers and supports small, effective tzedakah initiatives in the United States and Israel dedicated to tikkun olam (repairing the world) that might otherwise fall below the radar screen of larger funders. In 2014, these 3 programs collectively received grants of more than $28,000 to facilitate their creative efforts to relieve hunger and poverty.

Amir (www.amirproject.org) was founded by a Jewish visionary and Bay Area resident, David Fox. David and several camp friends started the organization in 2010 as a way to bring together their passion for the environment and social justice with experiential gardening. Today a nationwide program operating at twenty-three camp sites, Amir is based upon the tenets of commonality, cooperation, and sharing resources. Upon completing an intense training program, college students become Amir Farmer Fellows committed to managing gardens at summer camps, both Jewish and secular, and teach campers how to become stewards of the Earth, while imparting a commitment to social justice. Amir harnesses garden education to demonstrate the power of sharing resources, to teach about issues related to hunger and poverty, and to enlighten youth on the moral imperative to help those in need. As a result of the summer’s efforts, healthy produce grown by Amir farmers and campers is donated to local food pantries. The Good People Fund grant of $12,000 was directed towards the cost of a Farm Apprentice to oversee and train the Farmer Fellows.

The Good People Fund prides itself on identifying good people, doing great work to help others. While some of the Good People Fund grantees are not traditional Jewish organizations, they all are guided by the Jewish concept of tikkun olam (repairing the world). Nearby grantees that share in this philosophy are Village Harvest and Sunday Friends.

Craig Diserens was part of a team who founded Village Harvest to service the greater San Francisco area(www.villageharvest.org), and uses volunteers to glean the abundance of fruit (nearly 500,000 pounds last year alone) from private property and re-developed orchards and deliver it to local hunger programs. What differentiates Village Harvest’s efforts is their belief that the volunteers’ actions actually strengthen the community around them. Their grant of nearly $5,000 was directed to their Orchards Harvesting Program which gathers volunteers to pick historic or noncommercial orchards (some planted during the Gold Rush 150 years ago) and preserve and restore old orchards for future generations.

San Jose-based Sunday Friends (www.sundayfriends.org) was born from founder Janis Baron’s desire to sensitize her own children to diversity and volunteerism. Today, more than 1,200 volunteers provide a full day of learning and earning opportunities to hundreds of low-income immigrant families in San Jose. Children and their parents spend their Sundays at three school sites collaborating with volunteers in a variety of giving-back activities. Parents attend classes that concentrate on English language, effective parenting, money management and other life skills training to instill positive benefits for everyone. Children partner with volunteers to learn about nutrition, art and other enrichment activities. Through this active participation families earn tickets which can be redeemed for necessities in the onsite store, the Treasure Chest. Together, with help from the Good People Fund, Sunday Friends added a Rent Relief program through which participants may earn up to $200 credit towards their rent thus freeing up funds for other necessities. Part of their recent grant of $11,735 enabled 45 families to earn these credits.

“People like David, Craig and Janis prove our belief that it is most often good people, responding to a need in our world, who can effect change and inspire all of us to do the same,” explains Naomi Eisenberger, Executive Director of the Good People Fund. Eisenberger will visit from New Jersey with all three founders in November. “Our focus is on these good people and their often unnoticed efforts. With the help of our donors our wish is to nurture and grow these programs to a point where they can succeed and gain wider recognition.”

All of these organizations find creative and innovative ways to fund their initiatives and provide for their communities while operating with very low overhead and generating the most inspiring results. These three non-profits join 65 others financially supported and professionally guided by The Good People Fund (www.goodpeoplefund.org). They were collectively awarded nearly $29,000 in grants over the past year.

For further information, photos or to speak with Naomi, David, Craig or Janis please contact Rachel Litcofsky at 508-314-4304 or Rachel@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. We provide financial support and management guidance for small to medium grassroots efforts. Our 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 $6 million dollars since its inception in 2008. Further information can be found at www.goodpeoplefund.org

How does a traditional tzedakah fund that works with down-on-the-ground organizations doing good for their communities find the next generation of “good people” who spend their time in the “cloud”? That’s the question Good People Fund founder Naomi Eisenberger had been asking herself when she happened to meet Jewcer founder Amir Give’on. Give’on’s response? “It’s not rocket science.” And he should know, he worked as one for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab for years before turning his organizational and analytical skills to building the premiere platform for Jewish crowdfunding.

At first glance, one may wonder why a traditional tzedakah fund would look to the Jewish, progressive on-line fundraising platform, Jewcer, to identify potential new programs to support as grantees. The Good People Fund, which finds unique and highly effective programs led by good people, and invests in their exciting tikkun olam (repairing the world) work, is stepping out of its comfort zone when it comes to a partnership with Jewcer. It is testing the power of online social networking to provide an alternative vehicle to attract new good people, raise funds and match grants. The campaign begins on August 18 with a call for entries and projects; up to five of which will be selected to raise $1,800 through crowdfunding and then get a $3,200 community-matching grant from the Good People Fund.  For a non-profit organization that works directly with do-gooders on the ground, this journey into the cloud is a bold and exciting step forward.

So who should apply on August 18^th? Passionate individuals who spend their time improving the lives of those who need help; visionaries who see creative solutions where others see problems or turn a blind eye; and anyone who wants to make an even greater impact but just doesn’t have the resources of a development staff or significant budget.  The timeline for entries and crowdfunding can be found at www.jewcer.com/GPF.

How does it work? The campaign will launch with a national search for new ideas and programs to potentially become Good People Fund grantees.  Up to five finalists will be selected and each will receive Jewcer’s unique personalized guidance to help them reach their funding goal. Upon successfully reaching that goal, The Good People Fund will provide a matching grant and will then step in as a mentor invested in the program’s continued success and growth.

“We have an over 70% success rate in guiding people through an effective crowdfunding campaign,” explains Amir Give’ on, a founder and the CEO of Jewcer. “This program is a tool to foster participation and community engagement. Using social media to raise funds engages the community to invest in the cause because they want the program to happen and they believe it can impact lives.”

“By using Jewcer’s crowdsourcing platform and networking capabilities, we are excited about the chance to attract new potential grantees, whose good work we may otherwise have never discovered,” explains Naomi Eisenberger, founding Executive Director of the Good People Fund.

Jewcer is a natural fit because Give’on shares an approach to working with what he calls “project innovators” similar to Eisenberger’s in working with the Fund grantees. Give’on’s hands-on methodology in developing each Jewcer campaign complements Eisenberger’s hands-on style to which the Fund grantees and donors alike have grown so accustomed.

We’re looking for a few good people. Connect your readers to the campaign! Could the next grantee be from your community?

Founded in 2008, The Good People Fund (www.goodpeoplefund.org), 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. We provide financial support and management guidance for small to medium grassroots efforts. Our 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 $6,000,000 million dollars since its inception. Further information can be found at  www.goodpeoplefund.org

Jewcer is a Jewish crowdfunding consultancy offering the platform, the strategy, and the ongoing mentorship needed for successful crowdfunding. We empower individuals, organizations, and leaders to engage with communities through participatory philanthropy. We support programs, ideas, and causes designed to benefit the Jewish community and/or Israel

Contact Rachel Litcofsky at Rachel@goodpeoplefund.org or 508-314-4304 to connect your community with the August 18th launch, for further information or to speak with Eisenberger and Give’on.

Two Atlanta based non-profits, Second Helpings Atlanta (SHA) and Creating Connected Communities (CCC), the host organization for Amy’s Holiday Party, are both recent recipients of grants from The Good People Fund. The Fund discovers and supports small, effective tzedakah initiatives in the United States and Israel dedicated to tikkun olam (repairing the world) that might otherwise fall below the radar screen of larger charities.  Together, they received opening grants of nearly $10,000, and they will also benefit from ongoing management guidance to help grow their great work.

What sets these two Atlanta-based organizations apart from the many other nonprofits out there is that they were the result of two Jewish visionaries looking to solve problems of hunger and helping kids from disadvantaged families.  These organizations used their creative vision to help meet basic human needs, while operating with very low overhead and generating the most inspiring results. These two ‘good people’-led nonprofits join nearly seventy other nonprofits financially supported and professionally guided by The Good People Fund (www.goodpeoplefund.org).

In 2004, SHA (www.secondhelpingsatlanta.org) was founded by congregant Guenther Hecht as a social action project of Temple Sinai in Sandy Springs.  Today, as an independent nonprofit organization, since January 2013, it harnesses a force of nearly four hundred volunteer families and individuals to rescue food from restaurants, supermarkets, churches, individual donors, schools, caterers, bakeries, and many more establishments, which would otherwise go to waste. It distributes the food to community agencies within the metropolitan Atlanta area to feed people that are homeless, abused or living in poverty.  SHA has collected and distributed nearly 3.5 million pounds of food. The Good People Fund grant for $5,000 will go towards general operations.

Down the road, Creating Connected Communities (www.cccprojects.org) provides leadership training for teens to work with vulnerable children receiving services from Atlanta’s local agencies. Each year CCC mentors 30-40 Atlanta teens, raises their awareness on issues relating to homelessness and teaches them important advocacy skills. CCC plans on-site social and educational activities at local shelters, and as a capstone project, plans and hosts Amy’s Holiday Party for more than 700 underprivileged children from the greater Atlanta area. The Good People Fund grant will underwrite increased busing to bring additional children to CCC events as well as costs involved in their Spring event.

Coincidentally, the Fund was introduced to SHA by one of Temple Sinai’s associate rabbis, Elana E. Perry. Rabbi Perry’s Bat Mitzvah project involved collecting toiletries for battered women and homeless people; and by the time she graduated high school, she was collecting upwards of 100,000 toiletries and sending out start-up kits to others.  She was recognized as a ‘mitzvah hero’ by Danny Siegel, author of numerous books on tzedakah, mitzvahs and Bar and Bat Mitzvah projects.

Before starting the Good People Fund, Naomi Eisenberger worked closely with Danny Siegel, Ziv’s founder and chair, to guide Ziv’s expansion and growth. “It is inspiring to see the deep roots of Rabbi Perry’s commitment to social action evolve into her work as a rabbi today,” explains Naomi Eisenberger, Executive Director of the Good People Fund.

It seems that both organizations have a link to the power and teaching of social responsibility to young adults, teen philanthropy and an investment in tzedakah that should not go unnoticed. At the age of 12, Amy Sacks Zeide was devastated after watching a TV news report where someone had stolen all the presents from an Atlanta homeless shelter just before their annual Holiday Party, leaving the children with nothing.  Amy then donated her time and the money she received from her Bat Mitzvah to throw a holiday party for the children at a local Atlanta shelter. Today she serves as the Executive Director of CCC.

Eisenberger plans to visit those involved with these organizations in the coming months. “People like Guenther and Amy prove our belief that it is most often good people, responding to a need in our world, who can effect change and inspire all of us to do the same. We pride ourselves on identifying good people doing great work to help others,” says Eisenberger. “Our focus is on these good people and their often unnoticed efforts. With the help of our donors our wish is to nurture and grow these programs to a point where they can succeed and gain wider recognition.”

For further information, photos or to speak with Naomi, Amy, Guenther or David Schoenberg (current SHA President) please contact Rachel Litcofsky at 508-314-4304 or Rachel@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. We provide financial support and management guidance for small to medium grassroots efforts. Our 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 $6 million dollars since its inception in 2008. Further information can be found at www.goodpeoplefund.org.

Contact: Rachel Litcofsky 
508-314-4304 | Rachel@goodpeoplefund.org       twitter: @goodpeoplefund | facebook.com/thegoodpeoplefund