Dear friends and family,
 
I recently returned from a UJA mission to Cherkassy, which is in the Ukraine, and I want to share with you what I saw and what I felt. I'll begin with a visit we made to Benya and Katrina Teplitsky. They live in a tiny two-room "house" with no running water or indoor plumbing. They are both in failing health and even though they are only 68, they look as if they are in their 80s. Because of our United Jewish Appeal of MetroWest NJ (UJA) Campaign, we are able to send them daily meals-on-wheels, which provide them with nutritious food. In the winter, they receive winter relief, which provides them with the fuel they need to heat their home and survive the brutal Ukrainian winters. They sometimes even get the opportunity to go to the Jewish Community Center to meet with others so that they feel less isolated. I felt as if I had been thrown back into time ... back to the stories I used to hear from my grandparents ... about the shtetels ... about pogroms, and the Cossacks. There was a tug at my heart looking at these elderly Jews who all resembled my grandparents ... who really could BE my relatives.

My friends ... that really could be you or me if OUR ancestors had made different decisions. It could be us needing help. And as difficult as things may get here, these are the people who have it even tougher. These are the people who have no one to turn to. UJA came to those who didn't even know how to ask for help. As fellow Jews, we are lucky that we are able to make life better for our family here in MetroWest or in so many little corners of the world. Giving hope and giving help ... it makes me proud to be part of such a wonderful organization.

We do so much to help Jews around the world ... just take a look!

I hope you will join me in exercising The Power of One Gift, because

One gift enables our Jewish community to respond swiftly to changed needs or emergencies.
One gift assures that funds will be allocated where they are needed most.
One gift encourages, heals, and strengthens our people wherever they are -– locally, nationally, internationally.
One gift does a world of good.

It would mean a lot to me if you would join in supporting a cause that does so much good in our own community and around the world.

On behalf of everyone you can touch, I thank you and really appreciate your support of this worthy cause.

Regards,

Ellen Goldner

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