Thanks to the generosity of the Good People Fund (www.goodpeoplefund.org), Kulanu set up a new program this summer for supporting Jewish communities in Latin America. The Mini-Grant Program distributes funds for smaller community projects based on applications submitted by the communities.

In August, Kulanu received six applications from six different communities and distributed five mini-grants. In Sao Paulo, Brazil, this gift helped acquire enough Portuguese-Hebrew prayer books for the whole community to use. (See our blog post on this, with a video of the Shil do Tatuape community singing their thanks for the siddurim). We’ve also sent funds for siddurim to the Sephardic community of Quito, Ecuador, that is in the process of converting. (You can read about a Kulanu volunteer’s recent experience with this community in the next issue of KulanuNews!)

For the Adat Israel congregation, a recently converted Reform community in Guatemala City, Guatemala, we helped acquire various Jewish books with Spanish translation for an adult learning program. And another mini-grant was dispersed to a “new” community in Santa Marta, Colombia – a recently converted, egalitarian Jewish community. The funds were used to purchase Jewish educational resources and a chalkboard for their new Hebrew school classroom.

Good news from the Good People Fund: We are delighted to announce that the Good People Fund has agreed to renew their gift in 2015, so we can continue this Mini-Grant Program next year! Many thanks to the Good People Fund, and to Kulanu Board member and Regional Coordinator for Latin America, Daneel Schaechter, for making this initiative possible.