Community Magazine Februafy 2009

38 Community magazine S omewhere, a Jewish woman is fearful of her hus- band’s rage because the money that he gave her for groceries wasn’t enough to fill the cabinets and refrigerator for the week. Somewhere, a woman in poor health tucks away her pride, attending affairs with her two children uninvited, so that they don’t have to go hungry. Somewhere is no longer a small country or province that your children may have learned about in school. Somewhere is here, in Brooklyn, New York-and it could be as close as next door. “What we see on the outside is not the full picture. In life there are all kinds of issues that arise,” says Anat Stavrach, one of the board members of Aishel Shabbat. Aishel Shabbat is an organization impassioned with delivering food to the needy. Richie Dweck, also a board member, who along with Sillia Elman, Avi Cohen, Shimmie Galapo and Jack Mortov oversee everything that goes on within the warehouse space on this particu- lar Thursday evening. This preparation for Shabbat is a full time job, and this week, with over 300 deliveries it’s a wonder that everything gets done. It begins with a pallet of fruits and vegetables being separated from the ten and twenty pound bags into gallon bags. The bags are then distributed into boxes and delivered to someone’s front door. Richie first became involved with Aishel Shabbat four years ago, when he accompanied his brother-in-law on deliveries. After that, he found himself doing deliveries regularly. As he continued, his responsibilities increased. Many other young volunteers of Aishel Shabbat, like Sara Stavrach, began their involvement as students from Yeshivat Shaare Torah, Yeshiva of Flatbush or Barkai Yeshiva , satisfying their community service requirements. The spiritual charge they received from filling orders and running deliveries kept them coming back – in many cases with new recruits. There are many other organizations that provide for those in need. Aishel Shabbat is unique because its volunteers see and are a part of the misva from start to finish. “Everyone is doing it l’shem shama’im (for the sake of Heaven), which makes everyone feel good.” Anat says. A second theme common to volunteers for Aishel Shabbat is modesty. Everyone interviewed was very helpful when it came to explaining different stages, packing methods and many even shared some personal stories of inspirational deliveries – but no one wanted personal credit for anything. When Richie introduced me to Avi Cohen and began telling me how he coordinates the list of drivers, follows up with phone calls, speaks with the clients to make sure deliveries were received, Avi shooed him away and continued working. I received the same response from three other volunteers. “Everyone here does what they’re good at,” Anat pointed out. For instance, Meyer Benzaken volunteers his time to computerize the client list by barcodes. He also updates volunteer and client lists on a weekly basis. As with any charitable organization, Aishel Shabbat also has its share of setbacks. With the ever growing list of families and limited funding, the organization’s helping hand can only stretch so far with the existing budget. With a weekly average of 300 families each receiving a delivery with a retail value of over $100, the expenses add up quickly. Fortunately, Aishel Shabbat has managed to negoti- ate rates that are below wholesale so that a $100 box of food costs the organization only about $25. Still, with the number of families relying on these deliveries, food expenses run about $30,000 a month. Another distinction of Aishel Shabbat is that 100 percent of donations go straight to feed families in need – there are no paid officers or employees, no executive or office expenses, even the warehouse is donated by the generosity of Freddy and Remy Srour. Yet, without any of this overhead, with ample funding, Aishel Shabbat could provide for an additional 500 families per year. “People tend to think that because we’re based out of Boro Park, Aishel Shabbat does not cater to our community, unfortunately, a startling 80 percent of our weekly list of families is Sephardic,” says Richie Dweck. “The demand is there.” Michael Cohen of Body by Mike got involved by volunteering to do weekly deliveries. He was so taken by the hesed of it all that he started spreading the word and soliciting for much needed dona- tions. Food deliveries begin as early as Sunday nights in preparation for the upcoming Friday. So does this process ever end you ask? “It isn’t supposed to end,” says Richie. “That’s the whole point – hesed never ends.” Until the level of hesed outweighs the demand, organizations like Aishel Shabbat will continue, but that also means that we will have the opportunity to see angels in action as they volunteer their time and expertise to relive the hunger of our neighbors, right next door. Aishel Shabbat is having it’s annual Gala Chinese Auction on Mossei Shabbat, February 21, 2009, at Share Zion. To have an auc- tion booklet mailed to your home or to make a donation, please call 347-423-8812. Aishel Shabbat– NGELS IN CTION A