Not strictly sf-related, but this is important.
This weekend, I attended the Bar Mitzvah of my oldest friend’s oldest son. When I first met her, I was four months older than her son is now. How did we get so old?
Anyway, the point is, Jake was great. He led the entire service, in Hebrew, in addition to his Torah portion and Haftorah. He has grown and matured remarkably in the year since I’ve seen him, and his mother has every reason to be proud of him.
As is apparently de rigueur these days, Jake also took part in a project leading up to his Bar Mitzvah: good works to more closely connect to the world at large. His efforts went toward defeating world hunger, and he became very involved with an interesting charity, Heifer International. He got so into it that hunger awareness was also the theme of the party following the ceremony, and his mother (my friend, who does nothing by half measures) prepared 18 separate dishes (vegetarian, and kosher, to boot), one from each of the countries served by HI.
At the party, each guest received a gift card from HI, informing us that a gift has been made in our honor. And while I intend to join the effort, I thought I’d make use of my soapbox here to urge you to do the same.
Heifer International is a nonprofit, humanitarian organization dedicated to ending hunger and poverty and caring for the Earth. Since 1944, Heifer has pursued their mission by providing livestock and training in environmentally sound agriculture to those with genuine need. Recipients also agree to Pass on the Gift of one or more of their animals’ offspring and training to others in need, creating an ever-widening circle of hope.
If you’d care to join us, you can learn more about Heifer International through their web site, www.heifer.org. You can also reach them via phone: 800-422-0474. And if you’d care to make a donation in the name of Jake Nemeth, we’d all appreciate it.
Heifer International’s headquarters is a little more than a mile’s walk from my house. They are the real deal — good folks doing good work that actually makes headway against hunger. Not to take away anything from the many good organizations that put food in the hands of the hungry, but I’m a big admirer of Heifer’s mission to help people feed themselves and their families. They also promote sustainable agriculture and help women in poor countries start businesses.
Heifer International is well worth checking out if you’re looking for a group to support that has a real, long-term impact on helping people gain self-sufficiency.