For the second year in a row, TDSP surpassed its Purim fundraising goal. Every Purim for the past 3 years, TDSP has raised money for Ezras Cholim.
As many of you know, Ezras Cholim is an amazing organization. Just to name a few of their services- every week they provide kosher meals to people who need them, they have a kosher food bank, and they provide home visitation and pastoral care to the sick and the elderly. They help hundreds of people every single week, on a very lean budget, so every extra dollar that comes in is put to good use.
This year, TDSP charged its students with raising $25,000 for Ezras Cholim. By Thursday, March 24th, the total amount raised was $30,000, more than $5,000 more than the goal. Around 85 students participated in the fundraising effort, asking their parents, relatives, friends, fellow shul members, random people they met on Purim, and basically anyone they could think of to support this worthy cause.
The top fundraiser was 8th grade student Nina Allouche, who raised a whopping $6600.00. Fundraising is not new to Nina- last year she raised more than $5,000.00. Nina said that she went after both large and small donations, and she was not nervous about approaching people. “I asked people if they were willing to give money for a good cause, to help poor people who are in need of stuff,” said Nina.
Other notable fundraisers include the Milrad siblings, Rochel (8th grade), Chana (6th grade) and Simi (4th grade), who raised over $3000.00, the Zucker siblings, Maya (8th grade), Ella (5th grade) and Moshe (1st grade), who teamed up and raised close to $1200.00, 4th grader Shevy Field, who raised close to $900.00, and Chaim (4th grade) and Shimshy (2nd grade) Semel, who raised a little over $800.00. The money came in cash (lots of it, as you can see from the picture), checks, and direct zelles to Ezras Cholim.
Mr. Yechezkel Friedman, who co-founded Ezras Cholim with Mr. Elchonon Gross, was very grateful for TDSP’s support. “I thank TDSP for being so kind and for thinking of us in the community, and for supporting us,” he said, explaining that just this week, volunteers from Ezras Cholim had driven to both Prescott and Kingman to bring kosher meals to people there who needed them.
And for those who want to follow in the fundraising success of Nina Allouche, she had this advice. “Just go for it! You shouldn’t feel embarrassed to ask someone to help a poor family,” she said.