It’s that time again: time for “all of us” to look back at the memories and the accomplishments of the past twelve months. It’s also time to consider your financial support for the year ahead as we continue to welcome and help isolated and emerging Jewish communities around the world. Please use the form at the bottom of this post to make a donation, or visit www.kulanu.org/donate to give online. Thank you!

This has been a great year for Kulanu, thanks to supporters like you. We’ve expanded our reach, establishing relationships with “new” Jewish communities in Brazil, Colombia, Gabon, Ivory Coast, and Madagascar. And we continue to build Jewish knowledge, leadership, practice, and community across the globe. I am delighted to share with you some of our highlights from 2014 below – and soon our 2014 annual report will be published on our website, providing a more in-depth review of all we’ve done this year.

I hope you enjoy reflecting on the past year as much as I have. Thank you so much for being part of “all of us”!

• Torahs donated by Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan’s Upper East Side were distributed to communities in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, and Nigeria.
• Kulanu gave five “mini-grants” to needy Jewish communities in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Guatemala to purchase prayer books and study guides and to equip a Hebrew School classroom for children.
• Kulanu volunteers traveled to Cameroon, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and India to meet members of “new” communities, to teach, and to bring donated books, Judaica items, cameras, and computers.
• The Kulanu-Abayudaya 2014 Women’s Speaking Tour was a great success, as Shoshanna Nambi, a young activist from the Abayudaya community in Uganda, made appearances in a dozen cities across the United States and Canada and raised awareness about her inspiring community, and funds for the Abayudaya elementary and high schools.
• Students from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Guatemala traveled outside their communities to take advantage of Jewish learning and leadership development opportunities at Rabbi Shlomo Riskin’s yeshiva in Israel, Rabbi Gershom Sizomu’s yeshiva in Uganda, and Brandeis Collegiate Institute near Los Angeles.
• Kulanu arranged a beit din for conversions in Nicaragua and sent bus fare for a beit din in Uganda for members of the Kusuku Jewish community of Kenya.
• In Uganda, Kulanu donations paid for running our two schools, including the schools’ breakfast and lunch program, a new classroom block, a face-lift for the high school buildings, beds, mattresses, and mosquito nets for the student dorms, new latrines, and a better drainage system, as well as ninety-three goats for impoverished Abayudaya women, repairs of two wells in Namutumba, and windows and a floor for the Namutumba synagogue.
• The Harare Lemba Synagogue, which Kulanu helped to establish in Zimbabwe last year, continues to grow and thrive, assisted by excellent “overseas” volunteers who worked alongside the Lemba community and taught various subjects for seven months this past year. Construction continues on the synagogue in the countryside with labor by the community.
• We continue to utilize the Internet to further our mission, funding Internet access to connect isolated communities with social networking and online learning, and sharing photos and videos from community members, board members, coordinators, and volunteers with the world (www.youtube.com/kulanuvideo, www.kulanu.phanfare.com).

…and so much more! Visit our website (www.kulanu.org), blog (kulanu.org/blog), and social media pages (www.facebook.com/kulanu, www.twitter.com/kulanu_inc) to stay in touch. Remember our online store, kulanuboutique.com for books, music, and Judaica from around the globe. And if you haven’t been receiving our “Kulanu Update” emails, please be sure to include your current email address with your donation.

Please help us continue to serve isolated and emerging Jewish communities with a generous donation today. And please remember that multi-year gifts give us more freedom to plan ahead for the future.

Use the form below to mail in a check, or donate online at www.kulanu.org/donate. Any amount will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much for your support of Kulanu, Inc. and Jewish communities around the world!

Happy Chanukah,

Harriet

Harriet Bograd, President
Kulanu, Inc.
www.kulanu.org/contact

Please donate online, at www.kulanu.org/donate, or mail your check (payable to “Kulanu”, in US$) with this completed form to:

Harriet Bograd, Kulanu, 165 West End Ave. 3R, New York, NY 10023

Please help us by updating your information:

Name(s) ______________________________________________________

Address _______________________________ City ____________________

State/Province __________ Postal Code ________­­­_ Country ________________­­­

Phone(s) __­____________________________________________________

Email(s) ______________________________________________________

Amount: __ $50 __ $125 __ $250 __ $600 __ $1,200 __ $6,000 __ Other ($_____)

Fund: __Where Needed Most __Abayudaya __Zimbabwe Lemba __Other (Specify below)

Recurring Gift? __ Yes __ No If yes, recurs: ___ Monthly ___ Quarterly ___ Annually

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