By Barbara Greenwald
As one of the newest members of American Communities Helping Israel, or ACHI, I am continually amazed at how much this sisterhood accomplishes and continues to accomplish.
What began as group of grandmothers banding together in 2004 to help bolster the Israeli economy has blossomed into an innovative advocacy organization that keeps adapting to Israel’s needs.
For example, shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel, ACHI modified its mission to focus on raising money for the immediate benefit of those impacted by the war in Gaza. So far this year, we have sent more than $50,000 to Israel.
As the war drones on with no end — or hostages — in sight, Israel needs our help more than ever. Attacks from all sides, mounting Israel Defense Forces casualties and international condemnation are taking a huge toll on the Israeli psyche, and the number of those in need of financial and material support is rising.
Please join ACHI’s latest efforts to help. Stop feeling helpless! You can feed an Israeli family in need by purchasing a set of “Shabbat Shalom/Chag Sameach/All Occasion” cards featuring beautiful designs by Israeli artists. Created and sold by ACHI, these cards may be used as hostess gifts, to mark an occasion or as artwork to hang on the wall.
Most importantly, each card funds the cost of a Shabbat/holiday meal donated to those impacted by the Gaza war.
ACHI has partnered with Lema’an Achai, an Israeli nonprofit, to use all proceeds from its card sales for providing Shabbat/holiday meals to families of soldiers and evacuees, and to bereaved family members of soldiers and others who lost their lives on Oct. 7.
So far this year, ACHI has provided more than 1,200 meals to needy Israelis. (By the way, Rabbi Avrohom Leventhal, executive director of Lema’an Achai, is originally from Baltimore. To learn more about this organization, visit lemaanachai.org.)
Our latest endeavor, also in partnership with Lema’an Achai, is to help cater barbecues for Israeli soldiers. You can sponsor a BBQ for as few as 10 and as many as 100 soldiers. This makes a great tzedakah project for a group of friends, classmates or b’nai mitzvah students. To buy cards or sponsor a BBQ, go to achi613.org/store.
ACHI still maintains The Market, its online marketplace of more than 300 Israeli vendors. ACHI makes no money from marketplace transactions; its website is merely a conduit to the websites of its merchants, reflecting ACHI’s original mission of “Support Israel — Buy Israeli.” A different vendor is featured monthly on ACHI’s home page, achi613.org. To directly access The Market, go to achi613.org/achi-market.
ACHI’s newest Baltimore member is Liz Rothstein, a mother of four whose son is a “lone soldier” in the IDF.
Join us! We are seeking volunteers to assist with social media, community publicity and sales. To join ACHI or to volunteer in any capacity, write to team@achi613.org
And thank you to Jmore for publishing its article about ACHI in the July/Aug print edition.
A Cleveland native, Barbara Greenwald is a semi-retired writer and editor who lives in Pikesville.
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