| In Safed, an Eye care program Just called Faga to find out the glasses status. So far we have given away 8 pairs, 4 to children and 4 to adults. She is waiting for the phone to start ringing off the hook once school begins and parents are called to provide glasses for their kids. She said that having your funds to work with has made such a difference. She doesn't have to pick and choose who she can help - so far she can help everyone who calls. Now for the eye glasses story of the day.... Faga recently called a family who are on our food list to see how they were doing. The father hadn't worked in over a year. There was good news, and yes, there was also bad news. He had just been hired by a factory in Kiryat Shmona to work there but it seems that he couldn't do his work - he wasn't able to see what to do: when he was hired for the job he didn't know that he needed glasses. So, they sent him to an office for a checkup where he was told that unless he went to buy glasses he would lose his job. But he had no money as this was only the beginning of the job and he hadn't been paid yet. Get glasses they told him or lose the job. He had just arrived home with this story when Faga called. When she heard the story she immediately told him where to go. He got his glasses and went back to work the next day. What a blessing to be able to help them. Thank you. Rena A Clothing fund for Children of families and victims of the Terror Hi J, Riki, the volunteer who had coffee with us at Aroma, went with me today to Daniel's store to meet him, see the store and work out the details. He is such a nice guy and really aims to please. His merchandise is very nice, good quality at reasonable prices (which get even better since he will give us and our clients a discount on all purchases as he told you) and alot of good quality every day stuff that the children can easily wear to school. He said he will have more dressy things as the holidays get closer. He could not have been nicer. You made an excellent choice. We agreed that I would give my business card to each family and I will write on the card how much they can spend and sign it. When the person comes in with the card, Daniel will call me to confirm. Both he and I will both keep a running tab of how much has been spent. I prefer to send the people directly to him since the mothers know their children's tastes and sizes much better than I do and it gives them more dignity and independence this way. Also, it will be a waste if someone can't use the things that I picked out for them that weren't appropriate for those specific children. I spent the first 253 NIS today on baby clothes for 2 poor families and some odds and ends that were on sale that we will give to various families whom we will be visiting in the coming weeks. I purchased baby items for a young woman whose 27 year old sister was killed in Moment Cafe in Jerusalem on March 9, 2002. She was very close to her sister and was devastated by her death. She decided to have a baby to fill a void in her life.The baby girl, who is her first child, was born a week ago. They come from a poor family and she was very grateful for the newborn clothes which will help them out a lot. The second family I gave some clothes to was a baby boy born 1 month ago. The baby's mother's father was killed in a bombing and the family has never recovered financially or emotionally. The baby's mother is a young married woman who is studying to be a special education teacher. Her husband is also a student and works as a security guard to earn some money, but it is pretty close to minimum wage and is barely enough to support their family. I am very excited about giving our families this wonderful gift that is much needed and will make a significant difference to them. Thank you very much for your kindness and generosity. I'll keep you posted about how it is going and will continue to give you a brief description of each family who we send there.Please let me know if you have any suggestions about doing things differently. Take care, R. Story of one watch - 30 were donated Shavuah Tov and Boker Tov. Hope this note finds that all is well there with you. Just had to write and tell you how happy one of your watches is now that it is in the hands or on the wrist of the most charming young man. He is an Ethiopian who is a paratrooper - hesder yeshiva who studies in Tsfat. He is quite a young man as he volunteers all over the country to go and help out other new Ethiopian immigrants regardless of whether he gets paid to do so or not. He was in need of clothing, bedding and a watch all of which he now has. He comes to visit from time to time and is the gentlest soul. His family lives in Netanya and are quite poor. His mother cleans houses while his father spends most of his time in hospital as he has very bad asthma. It's such a bracha to be able to help this young fellow. Kesher to Kesher - Project Kesher.org (TSAL facilitated the donation of Silver Mezzuzot from a recovering silversmith in Israel to recovering Jewish communities in Russia) Dear Jerry, The work you are doing is incredible and I am so inspired by it. Please know that I spoke about your organization during the trip on the Volga and was so honored that you were a part of our journey. Warmly, Karen From Safed where the winter rain and cold can turn to Snow In order to know what is going on in our community we have to have many friends who tell us when they hear that there are specific problems. The other day we heard that a local kindergarten has had an influx of Ethiopian children mostly 2 and 3 year olds who arrived in Tsfat recently with their parents. Not only are the children without jackets or warm clothing, some are coming to school with only rubber thongs. They are the fortunate ones. Ten (approximately) come barefoot or only wearing stockings. Hearing this we rushed in to help. Cardboard cutouts are being made of the children's feet. After the cardboard had been trimmed to the correct foot impression, names will be put on the matching feet and indicate whether it's a girl or boy. These cutouts will be taken to our participating shoe store owner who will 'fit' the shoes. Then the shoes will be distributed to the children. Lev U'Neshama will be able to pay the bill; thank G-d we have the money from your friends at 'To Save a Life.' " Truly without you, we couldn't have done it. Many blessings from us all. Yaffa
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