‘A project whose success was a product of our communities'

To the editor: Temple Beth-El, The Monroe Temple of Liberal Judaism would like to thank the following groups and individuals who gave so generously of their time and contributions to assist in our Reform movement’s Jacobs’ Ladder Project for hurricane relief: Congregants Betsy Utnick and Fred Pressman who organized and led the effort; Fred Pressman, who solicited the cooperation of Wakefern, ShopRite, BJ’s and Stop and Shop; Tom Burrows, who organized the sorting and packing contingents; and Helaine Blumenthal, who organized volunteers to solicit donations from ShopRite, BJ’s and Stop and Shop. Our Temple office staff and custodial staff. Wakefern for the ShopRite truck; Silver Eagles for supplying the driver; Monroe Ford for its $1,000 donation to cover the cost of fuel; Kevin Kenny and DHL for their donation of large sorting cartons; Monroe Temple Sisterhood/Women of Reform Judaism for its significant donation of purchased items; and the Goshen Chamber of Commerce for 200 T-Shirts. Synagogues from Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Monticello, Kingston, and Livingston Manor. Monroe Temple Torah School and Academy students and parents. Congregant Marlee Lisker, 12 years old, who initiated her own collection in Cornwall. Sacred Heart Church, Monroe-Woodbury High School, the Goshen Intermediate School Youth for Ending Hunger Club, and their advisors, SueAnne Dropkin and Regina Botens, the Monroe Woodbury Retired Teachers Association, and the entire community at large, all of whom contributed significant donations of collected Items. The congregants who volunteered to do the transporting, sorting and packing of items, and the soliciting from the local markets, are too numerous to list. But you know who you are, and you know that this project could not have succeeded without your Herculean efforts. Within two weeks, the trailer truck was filled to capacity with items to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The truck has left for Utica, Mississippi, where the donations will be taken to a local warehouse, for distribution throughout the entire area. This was truly a project whose success was a product of our communities - synagogue, church and school communities, and the community at large. Rabbi Garry A. Loeb Cantor Leon J. Sher Bonna Horovitz, President