Founders are reaching out to help launch this initiative in other communities.
The founders of the Dollar-a-Day of Raritan Valley (DaDRV) initiative have seen their project take off in an exceptionally satisfying way.
Launched barely six months ago, the initiative has been promoted primarily through shul weekly bulletins in Highland Park, Edison and East Brunswick; comments by shul rabbonim in their drashot; and posters on bulletin boards. Paul Bloom of Edison adds that the initiative is “very much word of mouth,” and there has been no paid advertising.
By early January, DaDRV secured sufficient funds to enable the program to give $100 to a different charity each day. Beneficiaries include the Bikur Cholim of Raritan Valley, Tomchei Shabbos of Middlesex County, the Highland Park Mikvah, the East Brunswick Mikvah, Hatzolah of Middlesex County, NCSY of Central New Jersey, RJX, local area yeshivot, and the rabbi’s discretionary funds of Orthodox shuls in the area. They plan to add additional beneficiary groups this year.
Donors sign up on the DaDRV website and provide their credit card information, allowing the initiative to charge them a dollar a day (or more, if they choose). Donors receive a daily email, identifying that day’s beneficiary and the amount of money they received.
“Halacha states that we are supposed to support institutions of our own city before we support institutions across the county,” said Rabbi Sariel Malitzky, assistant rabbi of Congregation Ohr Torah in Edison and a donor to DaDRV. “I get a special feeling of pride and joy when I receive the daily email, which lets me know which local intuition is being supported by our charity.”
Rabbi Eliyahu Kaufman, rav of Congregation Ohav Emeth of Highland Park, was one of the first donors to sign up for the program. And he feels so strongly about the importance of the initiative that when he heard that Dollar-a-Day was one person away from the 100-donor milestone, he signed up a second time to help the program reach that goal.
“This program is a wonderful project, combining technology with the mitzvah of tzedaka,” said Rabbi Kaufman. “Tzedaka is one of the smartest investments a person can make and Dollar-a-Day enables people to fulfill the mitzvah every day, no matter what their circumstances are each day. This is the best deal in town, just $1 and so many mitzvahs!”
Beneficiary agencies are similarly enthusiastic about the initiative.
“The Raritan Valley Dollar-a-Day tzedaka/charity initiative is a wonderful way to help local organizations receive consistent donations throughout the year,” said Rabbi Meir Goldberg, director of Meor/Rutgers Jewish Xperience. “It provides us at Rutgers Jewish Xperience important cash flow, so that we can provide delicious food to our students which incentivizes them to come to our Torah classes on campus.”
“Having the grassroots support of the local community in Middlesex County through the Dollar-a-Day initiative is more than just a monthly donation funding our local NCSY programming,” said Rabbi Aryeh Wielgus, regional director of New Jersey NCSY and JSU. “It is a sign of the tremendous partnership and achrayus the community takes in supporting their local organizations. We are so grateful to the organizers and the community that this initiative has hit $100 per day and continues to grow.”
The leaders of DaDRV have already developed a multifaceted plan to attract more donors and have set an ambitious goal to double their donor base by Shavuot. According to Bloom, one of the founders, the next steps in their promotion plan include reaching out through beneficiary agencies, designating one ‘Dollar-a-Day’ Shabbat and asking all shul rabbonim to mention the initiative in their drashot that week, placing flyers in area restaurants, reaching out to Highland Park/Edison/East Brunswick “expats” now living in other areas, creating a tailored program for kids in area yeshivot and holding an event in the spring to celebrate their success.
Dollar-a-Day of Raritan Valley leaders have also decided to make the formula for success “open source” to other Jewish communities in New Jersey, offering guidance and technical expertise. Craig Prupis, the organization’s IT director, will be the point person for this outreach effort and is poised to offer “how-to” training sessions for interested community leaders.
“In the summer Paul approached me and asked if I’d be willing to work on a website for DaDRV,” Prupis said. “We thought it would be best to ask another organization doing the same thing if they could build the website for us. After being quoted a price of $4,000 plus a monthly fee, I decided to build it myself. After a few short months, we were able to launch DaDRV.org. Since we are a community-based tzedaka, we would like to help other communities build their own website.” For more details on this, Prupis can be reached via email at [email protected].
Bloom added that preliminary conversations have already been held with contacts in Elizabeth, Fair Lawn, Teaneck and West Orange.
For more information on the Dollar-a-Day of Raritan Valley initiative, and to sign up as a donor, visit their website at www.dadrv.org.
Harry Glazer welcomes feedback from readers of this news story and suggestions of other stories that may merit attention from The Jewish Link. He can be reached at [email protected]
