These past five months have been hard on everyone. With so many out of work, or worried about being out of work, or just worried, we weren’t sure we should ask for donations.

In March, April and May, as the coronavirus began its march across our country and the world, we thought we’d bring you some needed love and distraction through an Online Concert Series that featured performances by Dan Nichols, Chava Mirel, The Levins, Elana Arian, Kenny Green, Daniel Cainer, Ellen Allard, Noah Aronson, Eliana Light, and Nefesh Mountain.

While enjoying the music, you still managed to give and give and give and, together, you and we provided support to health clinics across the country that were taking care of the underserved in our communities: folks who can’t afford health insurance, and undocumented immigrants whose fear of arrest keeps them away from hospitals. Because of your generosity, we were able to award grants to Centro SOL community health clinic (in Baltimore, MD), La Clínica (in San Francisco, CA), People’s Community Clinic (in Austin, TX), Phoenix Allies for Community Health (in Phoenix, AZ), and NYC Health + Hospitals (in New York, NY).

At that same time, we couldn’t help ourselves when we heard about Friends4Frontlines and awarded a grant to an impressive group of high school students who’d been purchasing food from local restaurants and were delivering it to doctors and nurses at local hospitals.

When George Floyd’s death reignited a passion for racial justice in America, we asked you to give again. And you did, resulting in grants to The Equal Justice Initiative (working to end mass incarceration and excessive punishment), The Poor People’s Campaign (exposing the pervasive scarcity that belies America’s myth of abundance), Fair Fight (combating voter suppression), and BlackLine (a 24-hour hotline geared towards the Black, Black LGBTQI, Brown, Native and Muslim community).

Along the way, we also funded: the Angela Gold Music Scholarship Fund (assisting in training the next generation of budding young songleaders and music educators), Play Group Theatre (providing young people with extraordinary theatre and life experiences in White Plains, NY), and the North American Federation of Temple Youth’s Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Fund (to remember our friend and teacher by helping ensure that NFTY is available to a new generation of teens).

The Jonah Maccabee Foundation has promised to honor Jonah’s life by “turning love into action.” You’ve made that happen and our gratitude knows no bounds. While we continue to miss Jonah, we are thankful that we had him in our lives, and that he’s inspired us to do good stuff in his name.

Please stay safe and helps other to do the same.