Poor and Sick Fund

Have you given any thought to where the poor and unfortunate will get their Passover needs for the upcoming Holiday? The National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE) has.

The past few weeks have been very busy ones for the staff of the Poor and Sick Fund at NCFJE. More than 1,000 pounds of Matzah, hundreds of cases of wine and grape juice, more than 120 cases of chicken and meat have been delivered to and picked up by the needy of the Jewish community.

More pictures in the Extended Article.

The culmination of these extraordinary weeks of generous assistance to those in need was on Monday, April 14, 2008. On that day more than 500 cases of fresh fruits and vegetables – donated by A&J of Hunts Point Market, Bronx – were delivered to NCFJE Headquarters at 824 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn. Families that needed the items to make their Holiday food, met the trucks and loaded up their cars and vans with cases of fresh produce.

Aside from the food packages which are given to those who can’t afford the very costly but extremely necessary Passover essentials, NCFJE gives out vouchers for shoes and clothing. New clothing for the Holidays adds much joy to a family that can’t afford it. Much of the clothing goes to large families with many children that need new clothing for the Holiday as well as young couples who can’t afford new clothing for their babies.

“Families that register for the Passover packages at the NCFJE office are given the Holiday items – no questions asked,” said Rabbi Shea Hecht, chairman of the board. “We follow the Jewish tradition of giving all those who ask so that no one will feel they have to explain themselves and be uncomfortable to ask for it.”

The staff at NCFJE is sensitive to the needs of those families that can use the Passover essentials but are reluctant to come and pick them up themselves. At times people call the NCFJE office to say that a family who desperately needs the food and other holiday items is too bashful to come to the office to take the items. NCFJE has volunteers drop off the items at the person’s home so they won’t feel humiliated that they had to come and request the items. Additionally, if the NCFJE is notified of special need, they will make sure to give extra.

Following the time-honored NCFJE tradition of teaching while giving, the staff of the Poor and Sick Fund give out hand-made Shmurah Matzah – the best Matzah to use on Passover – to the children of the Released Time Program as an educational lesson, as well as to many other people who do not know what hand-made Matzah is or don’t understand its importance. When people receive the hand-made Matzah of NCFJE it brings them to an understanding of the special emphasis given to using hand-made Shmurah Matzah for Passover.

As an extra exciting pre-Passover activity, the Released Time children are taken to a model Matzah bakery so they get a hands-on experience of making Matzah as well as receiving it.

Additionally, thanks to the generosity of “Uncle Joe”, NCFJE was able to give 150 teachers and educators from the community $100- in Macy’s gift cards.

By the time Passover arrives, the staff of the Poor and Sick Fund of NCFJE have brought joy to more close to 1,000 Jewish families in Brooklyn.