Dear friends,

It’s the last day of our “Jonah-Inspired” campaign. And since we’re not above groveling to get a few more dollars from you, consider us down on our knees as we tell you, “We’d love to accept your donation on this December 31st final day of the year.”

Jonah would have loved this part. He loved money. He rarely spent any, mind you, because he was a saver. But he really enjoyed having it, so a subject line like, “last ditch effort to, you know, take your money” would have evoked that great smile of his. And like his old man, he’d have feigned disappointment that none of the money is actually for him, but he’d secretly love all the good that’s being done with it. And in his name — that would have just taken the cake!

We want to share with you something a friend of ours has written. David Billotti’s the guy who came up with “turning love into action” as our new tag. When he asked us to pay him $500,000 for it, we just laughed and offered to let him tell you why he donates his skills to help us out. Read on:

I never knew Jonah Dreskin.

I have no experience with camp or NFTY or Kutz or even going to synagogue growing up, but because of my work I know a lot of people who do. Those who knew Jonah — especially his peers — could not be more effusive about what a great person he was, how even at a young age he had forged an identity that respected tradition while embracing the future, and that he was an honor and credit to his parents’ lifelong work.

Through a mutual colleague and friend, I’ve had the good fortune to get to know Billy and Ellen, and they’ve shared with me how they consider the Foundation not only a way to honor Jonah’s memory but a way to tend to the causes that he might care about were he with us today.

The Jonah Maccabee Foundation works for change at many local levels and some global ones as well. It’s a big lift, but one that fits right in with the stories I’ve read and heard about Jonah.

Because of this, I’m asking you to please make a generous donation to the Jonah Maccabee Foundation before this last day of the year closes.

Do it because of Jonah and the promise and possibility left unfulfilled. Do it because you can count on the Foundation to identify causes and services and opportunities where there are unfulfilled promises that can still be met — whether it is an artist deserving of a wider audience, children in need of protection, or resources for an emergent social justice issue.

For a lot of people times are tough, even dangerous. Your donation to the Jonah Maccabee Foundation is a way to keep Jonah’s memory alive, and a small but important statement that “turning love into action” will assuage hurt, provide safety, and honor hope and possibility.

With much appreciation,
David Billotti

One last word from us Dreskins and Boonshofts to everyone out there:

Thank you. Y’all have been wonderful throughout this campaign. Your donations and your words — so much love in both — keep us aloft and moving forward. We’ll never stop missing Jonah, but we feel blessed to have you by our sides, forging something meaningful, something durable, something vital, from out of this great loss.

Okay, that’s it. Before the clock strikes midnight tonight, please donate to our “Jonah-Inspired.” Help us fight a system that devalues more and more lives everyday. Help us labor to make the world safer for the children, our children. And help us keep Jonah’s memory alive through acts of caring and concern and social change.

With gratitude and sweet wishes for a new year of love and peace,
Ellen, Billy, Aiden, Katie and Mark
The Jonah Maccabee Foundation