Dear Fellowship Friend,

We are all accustomed to hearing about the global financial crisis. But what often goes unreported is the way this situation greatly affects thousands of needy children in distant places which were already unstable even during the best of conditions.

The former Soviet Union (FSU) is one such place. Sadly, the current economic climate has reduced much of the previous funding that Jewish charitable organizations in the FSU relied upon. Major sources of funding for Jewish schools have been cut by up to 85 percent and millions of dollars have been eliminated for assistance programs.

The Fellowship has moved out in faith to address this tragedy through our Isaiah 58 program of compassion called Angels of Hope.

I want to tell you what we are doing to assist poor Jewish children in the FSU, and to ask you to join me in becoming an Angel of Hope to them through your loving and generous contribution today. The case of one little boy, Ilyas, is typical of the many poor Jewish children in the FSU who need you to be their "angel."

Ilyas was born to a large family that moved to the city of Baku from a remote region in Azerbaijan. He suffers from severe vision problems and asthma, and one of his sisters is chronically ill. The family's living conditions are dismal - their one bedroom apartment is in a state of disrepair, with moldy walls and no heat in the winter.

Ilyas' mother works as a school teacher, earning only $100 a month. His father has been unemployed for years. Funding from The Fellowship ensures Ilyas can attend a local program for young children at risk, where a therapist helps him overcome speech deficiencies and a psychologist prepares him to attend school next year. Our Isaiah 58-supported assistance program will also put a small heater in Ilyas' apartment to fight the bitter cold, and provide his family with food packages and supplemental medical care for the children.

I ask you to give to The Fellowship's Isaiah 58 program to help fund these humanitarian efforts for poor children throughout the FSU.

Thanks to caring Canadians, The Fellowship has been helping poverty-stricken Jewish children like Ilyas and orphans in the FSU for several years through Isaiah 58. There is no better way you can help protect and bless hurting Jewish children in the former Soviet Union than to become their loving Angel of Hope by providing the care they desperately need.

My friend, let us continue to help and save children by supporting Isaiah 58. Your gift will truly be a blessing to Jewish children who have suffered greatly. May God bless you for your compassionate heart for His children, Israel.

With prayers for shalom, peace,


Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
Chairman