We write with guarded optimism (fully vaxed and mask-enthusiastic). It’s been a sobering, wild ride since March 2020. More than 260 million have contracted Covid, and five million have died. Yet all this is punctuated by the countless acts of love and heroism which, inside and outside the medical community, have defined these two years, giving us the hope we yearned for.

Now we turn to a brighter future. Hopefully the new variants will be tamed alongside all the others, and we can resume living full, active, and interactive lives.

We’ve named our December campaign “Hope Smiles.” We’ve based it on a bit of writing from the great poet, Alfred Lord Tennyson: “Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, ‘It will be happier.’”

Perhaps not more than a whisper, but real enough. From the depths of these past two years, we may be entering 2022 seeing the light of a new day in the distance. Anticipating our gradual reemergence from our homes, from our illnesses, from our challenges and from our despairs, let us now join hands and renew our commitment to helping others, to turning love into action.

We hope that you’ll once again give generously, this time to Hope Smiles — in thanks for your own survival, and in hope for a better year ahead. We here at The Jonah Maccabee Foundation promise to continue helping out on your behalf.

You might like to know what grants we’ve awarded this year. Here we go:

• Angela Gold Music Scholarship Fund … to help raise the next generation of song leaders
• MindLeaps … working in developing countries using DANCE to improve school performance and create positive livelihoods for at-risk youth
• The Reform Movement’s Racial Justice Campaign … combating voter suppression, addressing systemic racism by demanding policy change on both a state and federal level
• 18 emergency food organizations across North America helping families get through the pandemic
• Harmony Project … an inspiring organization that provides high-quality music instruction and social support to children at no cost year ’round. Harmony Project motivates young people to cultivate their human potential
• American Indian College Fund … this was a Thanksgiving gift, supporting Native student access to higher education, assisting our nation’s indigenous peoples in building whole, healthy lives for themselves and their children
• Jewish Star … a North American talent search competition encouraging the next generation of singer-songwriters in the Jewish community
• National Diaper Network … provides basic necessities required to build the strong foundations all children, families, and individuals need to thrive and reach their full potential
• HIAS … helping settle new immigrants in the USA
• Play Group Theatre … “preparing kids for every stage in life,” PGT understands that the show isn’t what’s most important when kids do theatre. Learning collaboration, sharpening listening skills, embracing creativity, and treating one another with honor … these are what PGT is all about. We love that!
• 6 Points Creative Arts Academy … a summer camp that strives to create holistic, meaningful experiences for young artists in a living laboratory for learning and performing
• Youth Futures in Lod (Israel) … The Ramat Eshkol neighborhood of Lod, Israel, has seen far too much hate and violence. Youth Futures has established a trusting connection with the Jewish and Arab communities, providing all with emergency mental health care.

We’d be honored to have you join us in Hope Smiles, our December campaign to remember Jonah by helping make the world a little better for all.

Thank you.