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For the past 4 weeks, 20 Chaverim campers have been part of the JTFN Kesher course. JTFN is the Jewish Teen Funders Network. We, the JTFN campers, have been given a grant of $1000 along with 37 other camps across the country. First, we established which Jewish values we thought were the most important.  Keeping those values in mind, we came up with our own mission statement. Then we researched non- profit organizations that submitted Requests for Proposals.  We wanted to see if they aligned with our mission statement. We narrowed down the selection of possible organizations to donate the money to that all dealt with hunger: Leket Israel, The Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York and the West Stockbridge Community Garden.

JTFN-2A few days ago we were on a conference call with Yaakov, a representative from Leket. He furthered our understanding of the organization and answered our questions. Leket Israel is an organization based in Israel that helps save unwanted food and distributes it to the needy in Israel.  It is Israel’s national food bank and serves over one hundred forty thousand needy people each week.

The other day, Lauren, the leader of our Kesher group, took us off camp to visit the Regional Food Bank and the West Stockbridge Community Garden. We started off at the food bank where we consulted with a representative named Kathy. After we talked with her, she gave us a tour of the food bank.

Later that day, we went to the West Stockbridge Community Garden, which is a local organization right here in town, and talked to Megan and Dan. We toured the garden and found out about their plan to end hunger in West Stockbridge. During our visit, we learned just how small a garden can be to support an entire community, as well as what can be accomplished in just the 4 months the garden has been operating.  The mission of the garden is to make it easy for anyone in need, including the elderly, to receive fresh vegetables.  It is also teaching people how to garden.

This week our Kesher group decided to give $700 to the West Stockbridge Community Garden and $300 to Leket Israel. With our help, the community garden will now have a small apple orchard and apiary.  We hope that our donation will have a big impact in helping to end hunger in West Stockbridge.  Our $300 donation to Leket Israel will help them with their meal rescue program, which is a program that is organized to prevent food waste and promotes food security.  Our Crane Lake Teen Foundation is proud to donate to Leket Israel in such a time of need!

For more information on the organizations, visit JTFN, Leket Israel and the West Stockbridge Community Garden

 

Written by the 2014 JTFN Kesher group