What People Are Saying

More info coming soon!

Dear Challah for Hunger,

I am the Country Representative for the International Rescue Committee in Sudan. The money that you have raised makes a huge difference to the lives of people in Darfur. With this money we are able to provide child friendly spaces for the displaced children and youth and Darfur. This type of project is critical so that children can have a safe space to play and learn and this is essential in the normalization process, and to counteract any potential long-term psychological damage from the conflict. Other projects that IRC funds in Darfur are a health program, water and sanitation program, protection and Rule of Law and a gender-based violence program to help women and girls. IRC has a drop in center in the displaced persons camps which provides a refuge for the women in the midst of the chaos of war. IRC provides medical and psychological assistance to the survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. IRC receives critical funding from the AJWS to help the people of Darfur and the funds that you raise help these people directly. On behalf of IRC and the clients that we serve in Darfur, I would like to thank you for your commitment and contribution to the humanitarian efforts in Sudan. You are making an essential difference in people's lives. Thanks.

I recently came across a particularly compelling example of this kind of giving. Eli Winkelman, a student at Scripps College in Southern California, organized her own NGO, Challah for Hunger. Every week Challah for Hunger volunteers [at Scripps] produce more than 150 loaves of challah, the braided bread Jews traditionally break at the beginning of the Sabbath meal or during religious services. Each Friday morning, the students sell the bread to their fellow students, on tables that also have information on the hunger crisis in Darfur, "Stop Genocide in Sudan" T-shirts, "Save Darfur" bracelets, and letter-writing and advocacy materials. Students who use the materials for "Acts of Advocacy" get a discount on their challah purchases. Every week [Scripps] Challah for Hunger sends at least $300 to Darfur relief efforts and generates fifty letters and postcards advocating more assistance to the refugees or more serious coverage of the crisis by the media. Since November 2004, [Scripps] Challah for Hunger has sent more than $20,000 [update: $35,000] from students in the Claremont group.

I find this effort particularly touching and relevant because it was started by a Jewish student, and is funded by the sales of traditional Jewish bread for the benefit of poor Muslims whose plight has been ignored for too long by Muslim nations much closer to them. Eli says she got the idea for Challah for Hunger "almost by accident. I baked bread because people liked it. But then I realized it was a gift to have the time and money to do it, and the only way to honor the way I've been blessed was to do something worthy." Eli graduated from Scripps in the spring of 2007, but others will continue the work there, and she is hoping to see it expanded to other college campuses. There is already a Challah for Hunger effort at the University of Texas at Austin and a similar project at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Eli spent the summer of 2007 in Israel working with Sudanese refugees and thinking about how "you can use purchasing power to do all sorts of good things." Eli Winkelman's Challah for Hunger business card carries this quote from Rabbi Tarfon: "You are not obligated to complete the task, but you are not free to withdraw from it."

This project is so much more than the money it's raised. It is an entrypoint for students, it is leadership development, and it reaches everybody they've touched with every loaf of bread. It goes well beyond the money they've raised.

Thank you so much for starting this. It's a wonderful organization and has been a favorite part of my college experience so far. * I love Challah and Eli and the whole organization is amazing. Thank you for letting Syracuse participate in such a great cause! * I think Challah for Hunger is a great organization! Thanks for a great year! * Thanks for this opportunity!!! I hope I can start something like this someday too :)

Has your involvement in Challah for Hunger influenced your thinking or behavior in any way?
It has made me think critically about advocacy and how I can be the most effective advocate for social justice. Especially as our chapter has begun looking into local initiatives to fund, it has made me think about what giving means to me and how I want to give, given time and money are very limited resources. * I've changed from someone who wanted to do things to help "save the world" but who couldn't find the time, to someone who is involved every week. * I have realized that even the simplest things, such as bread, can have a great impact. Many people buy the bread for the bread, or bake just to bake, but end up learning a lot about the world and compassion. * I feel like it has increased my awareness of and involvement in the world. * I feel like I have some power to change the world, It's made me more confident in my leadership abilities and impact on the world. * It's shown me that I do have the power to make a difference.

What have you learned from doing Challah for Hunger? (Examples: I learned more about the situation in Darfur, I learned how to measure a cup of flour, etc.)
How a club manages its money. * Leadership. * About Darfur and the ongoing situation. * Large scale baking and marketing. * How to teach people about baking and how to educate people on Darfur. * Patience! * The power of the person. * To experiment with baking and to make a product appealing to customers. * The situation in Darfur, how to promote effective activism, how to organize people, how to use a industrial mixer ;) * About the genocide in Darfur and helping coordinate a completely student-run organization. * I have learned how to bake in large quantities, I have learned about leadership (since I am chapter co-Pres), I have learned about working with many different types of people, I have learned, or rather am trying to learn, how to create an effective advocacy campaign. * How to lead a group. * I learned how to make challah.

What's your favorite part of Challah for Hunger?
The satisfaction of knowing our customers are enjoying our baking while simultaneously helping those in need. * Seeing how much money we've raised and getting to tell S.P.E.A.K. that we were able to make a donation to their organization. I know I wouldn't be able to give so much money by myself, so it's great to still have the opportunity to give a lot on behalf of others. * The people I volunteer with and the good work that we do. * The delicious bread and fun times in the kitchen. * Shaping bread dough is therapeutic. Also, I like hearing that Challah for Hunger is doing well; we sell out every week. * The community. * It's a fun way to do something meaningful. * Eating! And writing letters (and getting responses). * Baking!!! And the scene in the kitchen, when there are five or so of us making challah side by side and chatting. It's like the modern version of a quilt-sewing! * Making a difference. * The community and counting the money...! * The smell of fresh bread in the morning before class. * Warm, squishy loaves of bread straight out of the oven.

How has your involvement with Challah for Hunger affected your feelings about your Jewish community on campus or your own personal Jewish identity?
It has widened my sense about how my Jewish identity can be linked to my social action/activist identity. * I love that it is a Jewish way of coming together, engaging with other young Jews culturally, and helping our community (and not necessarily the Jewish community). I think it's important for Jews to find ways to be socially active Jewishly but NOT always focus on other Jews - the world is a big place. * It has made me feel good about our Jewish community and my Jewish identity. As Jews, we talk so much about the Holocaust (as we should) and say "never again," and I feel like this program is a small way to act on that. * I think social justice, such as this, has allowed me to connect much more with Judaism. * Improved my feelings about the Jewish community on campus * Prior to doing Challah for Hunger, I felt no connection to the Jewish community. I now feel much more involved. * It has made me think about how my being Jewish is perhaps a big reason why I am so inclined to do social justice. * Because I am not super involved in other Jewish groups on campus, doing Challah each week allows me to feel that I am not losing a connection to my Jewish community. * Challah for Hunger is a BIG part of my Jewish identity. * I feel closer to the Jewish community and like I'm shaping other people's Jewish identities