Dear Jonah,
Gift-giving was a big thing in our family. Especially on Hanukkah. As a kid, my family lit candles each of the eight nights but only exchanged gifts on one of them. So perhaps in parenting you and your siblings, I was reacting to a choice my own parents had made. Wherever my motivation came from, I looked forward to doing the meticulous research that would ensure each of you (mom included) receiving at least one gift each night. I loved piling them all up before Hanukkah began and watching each of you select the gift you wanted that night (you gravitated, of course, toward whichever was largest).
When you were younger, you were likely to display your disapproval should I be so thick-headed as to get you something you didn’t like. But as you grew older, you began to understand it was the act of giving that counts; quality was welcomed but not crucial in eliciting true gratitude. You got very good at that.
Dear Jonah,
As we continue watching refugees at our southern border be treated with cold-hearted animus, all of us want to try and be of help. Fortunately, we have friends who are lending a hand. Catholic Charities’ Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, TX, is frequently the 2nd stop for those entering our country. After processing at the U.S. Border Patrol immigration processing center in McAllen, men, women, children and infants are released to the Respite Center for food, a shower and other care until they move on to join their family or sponsor, awaiting their date in immigration court where they will be granted or denied their asylum claim.
We are heartbroken here at The Jonah Maccabee Foundation as we watch families being separated at our nation’s border, with children experiencing grave trauma from the prospect of never seeing their parents again. As our summer campaign concludes, we know that this is exactly what Jonah would have wanted us to do with the money you’ve entrusted to us. RAICES, Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, is hard at work throughout the state or Texas providing free legal information, referrals and direct representation for unaccompanied children in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). Given their proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border, RAICES is uniquely positioned to help thousands of children find their way back home.
