Making A Difference
Dear Beth El Congregation,
This summer we participated in a Short-Term Service Program in Argentina, coordinated by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in partnership with Tufts Hillel. The trip had an immense impact on us; seeing the contrast between how North American Jews and Argentine Jews live led many of us to examine our personal relationships with and perhaps our obligations toward Jewish communities abroad. As a group, we decided that we’d like to continue to offer support to the communities we visited. We are writing to you to ask for your help with this endeavor.
A big part of our trip was learning about the local organizations the JDC supports and performing service work based on the self-identified needs of these organizations as we traveled through Mar del Plata and Buenos Aires. Our service actually began before we even arrived in Argentina, when we held a series of smoothie sales on campus to raise money for a JDC program in Buenos Aires called the Baby Help Center. The Baby Help Center is a daycare center that serves low-income, Jewish children. While on the ground in Buenos Aires we got to deliver donations of clothing and toys that we had brought with us from the States, play with the kids, and even sit in on a music class.
Since Argentina’s economic collapse in 2001, many families have been hard-pressed to provide for their children-- especially when it comes to balancing work and childcare. The Baby Help Center not only provides reliable daycare for working parents, but also provides essential goods such as, clothing and diapers. The continued provision of these much-needed services depends on the continued availability of funding. We have witnessed first-hand the work that The Baby Help Center does and we’ve also met with the Director of the organization and spoken with several beneficiaries of the program. We feel extremely passionate about continuing to support this organization and we are asking for your help. Any gift will have a significant impact on the lives of The Baby Help Center kids and their families. A gift of $880 can provide food and nutritional support for one child in need for an entire year.
Thank you for your time and consideration! If you wish to contribute, your donation can be made out to “JDC” with “Baby Help Center” in the memo line and mailed to:
Attn: Evan Rosenstock
JDC
711 Third Avenue, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10017
You can also donate online at the following website: http://jdc.org/tufts
Very truly yours,
Andrew Lutz