At our October 7, 2008 Social Action meeting, the committee agreed to donate $1000 from the Louis and Bettye Kaplan Social Action Fund to two organizations: MAZON and 100 FRIENDS.

Jacob Hall, the youngest member of the committee, recommended MAZON (which means food in Hebrew) as a great organization. MAZON, a Jewish Response to Hunger, is a national agency that uses donations to prevent and alleviate hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds. Each year, MAZON grants over $3 million to more than 300 carefully screened hunger-relief agencies, including emergency food providers, food banks, multi-service organizations and advocacy groups that seek long-term solutions to the hunger problem. They have a strong presence in Illinois and Chicago, with grants to America’s Second Harvest, the Illinois Hunger Coalition, the ARK, Northern Illinois Food Bank, the EZRA Center (Jewish Federation of Metro. Chicago), the Good New Community Kitchen, the Lakeview Pantry, and Vital Bridges. MAZON's mission is to educate and raise the consciousness of the Jewish community regarding its obligation to alleviate hunger and its causes, and to provide for people who are hungry.

100 FRIENDS: Adam Carter, son of congregants Gina and Allan, spoke to the committee about his work in micro-philanthropy. After traveling for pleasure after college, Adam gradually found he wanted to make a difference in the lives of people in other countries. He became a person who traveled for a cause, practicing philanthropy in a very personal way. After doing this solo for some years, he recently became the Associate Director, of the 100 Friends Project (a 501(c) 3 charity), founded by Marc Gold in 1989. It has grown since 1992 with about $2111 in donations to $115,627 in 2007. There are no paid employees of 100 Friends. They report that a minimum of 85% of all donations go directly into the hands of a needy person, family or local organization. The remaining 15% is spent on postage, office supplies, website and newsletters, printing, and fundraising. Aid disbursed is documented carefully with individual receipts as well as photos and documentaries which show the activities of the project at work. Adam pays his own travel and living expenses on his trips.
 

How does he do it? Adam gets to know people in communities he works in, and he micro-finances local projects. He keeps close track of how he disburses money, and follows up with the individuals or local organizations to be sure money is well spent. Often he spends the dollars directly on goods needed by the community. His next stop this fall will be West Africa. In Sierra Leone he wants to work to reintegrate the former child soldiers into society. In Mali, in the Sahara, where health and water issues are paramount, he will look into projects to create more access to good water. In Guinea and Mali, he will work to help the many orphans from the HIV epidemic in Africa. Adam reports back to donors by email, blog, and photos. We look forward to reading about and seeing pictures of his latest work on his blog. To learn more, go to the 100 Friends web site. There you will find many stories of the work being done, along with links to Adam’s blog and contact information.