Helping Others in a Pinch

UPDATE: September 10, 2024

At my uncle's funeral this morning, a bit of Talmud was shared in reference to my uncle, Shel Schiffman, of Blessed Memory. His rabbi shared that it is a mitzvah (good deed) to help others perform mitzvot (good deeds), and that was her experience of my uncle. He helped her and others -- help others. Me too - he helped me help others, and he and his wife and his kids are regular supporters of my work to stop executions.

There is also a teaching that one of the highest forms of charity is when the donor does not know the recipient and the recipient does not know the donor. That's the essence of the purpose of this GoFundMe. Help me help others.

Don't be fooled by the "amount raised" on this page. The last donation here was six months ago, and all monies raised so far have gone to help others in need. Sadly, the well done run dry, and I am once again inviting people to help me help others, $20, $50, $100 at a time....

If you are in a position to do so, here's the link: https://gofund.me/f75130d5

Thank you.

--abe

561-371-5204

ORIGINAL STORY of intent for this GoFundMe.

A Message from Abraham Bonowitz

For more than 30 years, I've been fighting the death penalty. As awful as the circumstances are around murder and its aftermath, one of the things I'm grateful for is the people I have found myself working with, many of whom have become actual friends.

But something that comes along with working within impacted communities is the reality that in many cases, poverty is a real and ongoing struggle. It is rare that a week goes by without someone I know in the anti-death penalty movement needing a quick bit of assistance. Many have big needs and I am still managing GoFundMe pages for a number of exonerated death row survivors and a few family members of murder victims (including family members of the executed). The trauma is real, and ongoing.

Often I get a call or a text like this: "Brother, I need help making my rent or I'm going to get kicked out," or, "I just need help filling my gas tank so I can visit [my loved one in prison]." Or recently, "I don't have money for food."

Maybe I'm a sucker, or maybe it's just the values my parents instilled in me. If someone needs help, you help them. All of these people I know are proud, and in most cases they have their own ways of earning a living, but when someone calls with a desperate need, if I can help, I do. And it adds up. I'm not rich. In fact, I have quite a bit of debt, but that doesn't stop me.

This is an experiment. My goal is to set aside funds donated here so that when someone I know needs a quick bit of support, I don't have to jump through a bunch of hoops or check my own bank balance. I can simply transfer some funds and help alleviate the situation, $50 or $100 at a time. Most recently the need was $150.

There are those who will challenge this practice. I don't care. I want to be able to help people without having to go through my own or another organization's structure and process. This is my project - Abraham Bonowitz - and not Death Penalty Action or any other organization. If you don't want to trust me, that's fine. Donate instead on one of the following pages. But if you want to give me greater capacity to be a phone call away for people in a bind who are part of my circles, please chip in here.

OTHER PAGES I RUN TO HELP OTHERS