A donation of COVID-19 relief kits will help local organizations combat coronavirus. Alex Nason, B’nai B’rith community coordinator and president of B’nai B’rith in the Texarkoma Region, presented local organizations with COVID-19 relief kits provided by B’nai B’rith International.

Jewish Family Services of Tarrant County, the Tarrant County Molly and Max Barnett B’nai B’rith Apartments, and Strengthening After-School Programs through Advocacy, Resources and Collaboration (SPARC) received kits containing a cloth face mask and travel-sized hand sanitizer, both imprinted with the B’nai B’rith logo.

These kits, made possible by B’nai B’rith International, will help ensure that recipients stay safe during the pandemic.

Jewish Family Services of Tarrant County, a program that provides transportation for seniors to bring them together for activities and meals, received 25 kits. Hedy Collins, senior program director, accepted the kits from Nason.

The Tarrant County Molly and Max Barnett B’nai B’rith Apartments house 95 low-income seniors. Each resident received a COVID kit, accepted on behalf of the residents by Board President Dan Sturman and Property Manager Tiffany Bell.

SPARC provides after-school programming and training to serve all Fort Worth schools. Tobi Jackson, executive director of SPARC and first vice president of the Fort Worth Independent School District board of trustees, accepted the kits.

“Seeing the appreciation from the kit recipients who are familiar with B’nai B’rith International was very nice,” Nason said. “And hearing how surprised and appreciative people were who didn’t know about B’nai B’rith International and its disaster relief doings was priceless. It made me very proud to be a part of B’nai B’rith.”

These donations are some of many made as part of B’nai B’rith’s project to provide 3,000 COVID-19 relief kits to communities around the United States. B’nai B’rith community coordinators around the country are donating kits on behalf of B’nai B’rith to local agencies dedicated to serving their community.

“Every community in America is facing the challenge of responding to the needs of vulnerable populations. We want to be part of the solution and help make sure everyone stays safe,” said Rebecca Saltzman, senior vice president and chair of the B’nai B’rith Disaster and Emergency Relief Committee.

As the U.S. experiences a high level of transmission of the virus, this project will help people follow the CDC recommendation for the “consistent and correct” use of face masks, as well as guidance to use hand sanitizer when soap and water are not readily available.  Since it began in March 2020, the B’nai B’rith COVID-19 relief campaign has supported projects around the world to help keep people safe and alleviate the effects of the pandemic.

The B’nai B’rith Disaster and Emergency Relief Fund has responded to man-made and natural disasters around the world since 1865.

JNS mentioned our statement on the COVID-19 relief package deal reached by Congress. 

(December 22, 2020 / JNS) Jewish and pro-Israel groups expressed appreciation to Congress for passing a 5,593-page spending package on Monday night that includes $1.4 trillion to fund the government, in addition to annual U.S. assistance to Israel, and as much as $900 billion in relief for those affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The bill now goes to U.S. President Donald Trump to sign it into law.

Relief includes $600 stimulus checks per adult and child. Single people earning up to $75,000 will receive $600, while married couples earning up to $150,000 will receive $1,200. Checks will be reduced by $5 for every $100 in income for those above those thresholds. Single people who earn more than $87,000 or married couples who earn more than $174,000 will not receive money.

The relief also allocates $300 per week in enhanced unemployment insurance for 11 weeks, more funds for vaccine distribution and COVID-19 testing.

It also consists of $319 billion for small businesses, including $284 billion in loans for the Paycheck Protection Program from the Small Business Administration (SBA). This included $20 billion through the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) program and $15 billion for theaters, live venues and museums.

The bill allocates $82 billion in education funding, including $2.75 billion to support Jewish, Catholic and other nonpublic schools.

The spending bill includes $180 million in funding for security for nonprofit institutions.
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In a statement applauding the legislation ahead of it being passed, the Jewish Federations of North America said—citing a record number of anti-Semitic attacks in the United States in 2019— that “this bolstered funding will help to secure thousands of synagogues, Jewish community agencies and organizations, as well as other faith and communal groups who have too frequently been the victims of deadly attacks.”

The bill also includes the seventh year of funding for Holocaust survivors and older adults with a history of trauma and their families. JFNA said that its “Center for Advancing Holocaust Survivor Care, which benefits from federal funding, will be able to continue to its work.”

In a statement ahead of the legislative package being passed, B’nai B’rith International expressed gratitude for the economic relief and extension of the Paycheck Protection Program, though said it was “disappointed that there were no provisions made for low-income senior housing in this stimulus bill.”

“As the largest national Jewish sponsor of low-income, nonsectarian housing for seniors in the country, we are focused on the urgent needs of this population,” continued the organization. “We would have appreciated funds for more supplies, staffing, service coordinators and Wi-Fi accessibility for subsidized housing for seniors.”

Ahead of it being passed, the Orthodox Union also applauded the government spending and relief package, especially for K-12 schools.

In the American Jewish community, almost 1,000 Jewish day schools educate approximately 300,000 students and employ many thousands of teachers and other staff. As with so many other institutions, the impact of the COVID-19 crisis has been terribly disruptive and costly to these schools, it explained.

“That is why it is essential for this latest federal relief package to include a great amount of support for these schools and, among them, America’s Jewish, Catholic and other nonpublic schools,” said OU executive director for public policy Nathan Diament. “We are all in this together. We cannot beat back the pandemic, much less educate children, in some schools but not others. Thus, we are very thankful that congressional leaders set aside $2.75 billion to help our schools in this emergency.”

‘Ensuring critical support for Israel’s security’

Moreover, the bill includes legislation protecting victims of terrorism and restoring Sudan’s immunity from terror-related lawsuits in the aftermath of the Northeast African nation recently agreeing to normalize ties with Israel.

The legislative package includes the annual $3.8 billion in assistance to Israel in accordance with the 2016 10-year $38 billion memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the United States and Israel. It consisted of $3.3 billion in security assistance and $500 million for U.S.-Israel missile defense cooperation authorized by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed earlier this month.

The bill also allocates $47.5 million in anti-tunnel technology and $25 million for counter-unmanned aerial systems, two burgeoning areas of cooperation in addressing threats from tunnel attacks and drones.

Additionally, the legislation includes $2 million to fund a new U.S.-Israel cooperative initiative on COVID-related and health technologies research; $2 million to fund a new Israel-U.S. Agency for International Development international development cooperative program to support local solutions to address sustainability challenges; $4 million for the U.S.-Israel Center of Excellence in Energy and Water; $2 million for the Israel Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation supporting U.S.-Israel energy cooperative programs; and $2 million for U.S.-Israel cooperative efforts related to border security, maritime security, biometrics, cybersecurity and video analytics.

Finally, the bill allocates $2 million to fund a new strategic dialogue of the Eastern Mediterranean Partnership among the United States, Israel, Greece and Cyprus; and $50 million to fund and authorize the Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Fund aimed at investing in economic and people-to-people partnerships between Israelis and Palestinians, named for Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), who is retiring and has been known as a stalwart ally of the Jewish state in Congress.

Following the legislation’s passage, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee heralded Congress “for ensuring critical support for Israel’s security and strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship.”

Diario Judío México – Una delegación integrada por jóvenes de Israel y México organizada por la B’nai B’rith México y el Instituto Cultural México Israel realizan una misión especial de apoyo a los damnificados en Tabasco.

El equipo integrado tanto por jóvenes judíos como no judíos realizó primero una investigación de las necesidades de la gente en la zona afectada, para así eficientar la entrega, que se realiza actualmente mamo a mano para así apoyar a los afectados de la zona.

Sin duda deseamos a los damnificados que pronto puedan recuperar sus casas y su vida cotidiana en salud y bienestar.

(English) A delegation made up of young people from Israel and Mexico organized by B’nai B’rith Mexico and the Mexico Israel Cultural Institute made a special mission to support the flooding victims in Tabasco.

The team, made up of both Jewish and non-Jewish youths, first figured out the needs of the people in the affected area in order to streamline the delivery, which is currently being carried out by hand to support those affected in the area.

We hope the victims can soon recover their homes and return to their daily lives in good health and well-being.

B'nai B'rith International was quick to respond to the Ebola crisis in West Africa, dedicating donations from the Disaster Relief Fund to our partner IsraAID, already on the ground.

Working with IsraAID, the First Lady of Sierra Leone Sia Nyama Koroma hosted a two-day workshop on stress management and self-care, chronicled on her official Facebook wall.
 
Participants were drawn from all sectors, including governmental and non-governmental health organizations, education, social and children's welfare, inter-faith entities and other non-profits. For many, it was an introduction to proven practices in psycho-social support and self-care in the aftermath of Ebola.

The workshop focused on self-care and secondary trauma, because those who give help often forget to take care of themselves and suffer in silence. IsraAid pledged to bring in 60 specialists from Israel over the next two years to train Sierra Leoneans to give psycho-social support.

According to a statement on the First Lady's Facebook page, Koroma has a background as a psychiatric nurse and felt personally connected to those suffering:

"Ebola is not only a health issue...for a young girl orphaned by the disease, Ebola means grief, stigma and discrimination at the hands of her neighbors. For a survivor, weakened and scared, but alive, Ebola means pain and a life of guilt, shame and rejection.

"For the thousands of survivors and health workers especially nurses, doctors, lab-technicians, drivers, cleaners, contact tracers, burial teams and community workers Ebola means betrayal and sadness, flashbacks and nightmares. 
And for all those who have lost family members and friends and who worry everyday about a disease that they cannot see, Ebola means fear and anxiety."

Click here to support our Disaster Relief efforts against Ebola!

B'nai B'rith celebrated its 171st birthday on Oct. 13, reviewing its first 17 decades at the forefront of Jewish advocacy in the United States and around the world.

Here is an infographic detailing the major achievements in the organization's history:

Following the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001, B'nai B'rith International published a statement condemning the attacks, consoling the families of the victims and announcing the opening of the disaster relief funds.

In the words of then B'nai B'rith President Richard D. Heideman:

"Our prayers are with the victims of Tuesday's unthinkable acts of terrorism. We send our condolences and prayers to the families and friends who have lost loved ones in these murderous attacks against the United States.

"This is horrible beyond belief, and we must band together to do all we can to help. We have begun an immediate effort to aid those directly affected by these devastating acts. This tragedy is such that people want to do anything they can to help."

Read more from the press release, scanned and posted in its entirety, below:

Shalom TV Daily News featured B'nai B'rith International's Disaster Relief Fund as one recipient of Alpha Epsilon Pi's new $1 million philanthropy initiative. 

B’nai B’rith was one of ten organizations selected during the Jewish fraternity's annual international convention, and will invest the generous grant in humanitarian aid efforts around the globe.

The story begins at the 3:48 mark in the video: