If you missed the Fed Up With Hunger unofficial kick-off last week, you missed a one-of-a-kind event. More than 570 people helped ring in 5770 at Hidden Melodies Revealed, featuring The Sway Machinery. According to our good pals over at JDub Records, who organized and produced the concert, it was “the wildest and most exuberant Rosh Hashanah celebration the west coast has experienced.”
We were on hand to pass out Fed Up With Hunger bags, and get the crowd (an amazingly diverse bunch in terms of age and ethnicity), psyched up about eradicating hunger in L.A. If you missed the event, or just want to relive it, be sure to check out our video below. And then head over to GiveLifeMeaning.org and check out another new video, featuring music by The Beastie Boys.
WIN one of THREE autographed copies of Josh’s new book! Get entered into a drawing for a free iPod Nano (with video!) — details at the bottom of this post…
You may already know Josh Flagg if you’re a fan of the show Million Dollar Listing on Bravo. And you may already know about his famous grandmother, Edith Flagg, who single-handedly brought Polyester to the U.S. in the 1960s (and here you though it was an Esther, not an Edith).
Josh Flagg with his grandmother, Edith
But you probably don’t know about Josh’s new book, A Simple Girl – Stories My Grandmother Told Me. What’s more, you probably don’t know that Josh is donating most of the proceeds of this fun, insightful account of his grandmother’s life, to the Federation. That’s right: every copy you buy over at his Web site, JoshFlagg.com, goes to help those in need.
Check it out, and check out my interview with Josh below. And be sure to tun into the next season of Million Dollar Listing, premiering October 12th on Bravo.
—Contest Details—
Everyone knows that hunger is a big problem world-wide. But did you know right here in the U.S. we’ve got our own serious problem? That’s why Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore made this video (with the help of non-celebs around the country), and why Mike Myers, Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Edge and a bunch of other famous folk made this vid.
Here in Los Angeles, the hunger capital of the country, 1 in 8 people are what we call food insecure. By my way of thinking, in a country with a network and infrastructure to feed everyone, that’s just Fail with a capital F.
To do something about the growing problem, many organizations have teamed up under the banner Fed Up With Hunger, and are trying to spread awareness to stop the hunger.
So what can YOU do to help fight hunger? Forward the video on the site’s homepage to as many people as you can, to help educate people to the problem.
What do you get, besides satisfaction that you’re doing your part? Well, everyone who forwards the video will be automatically entered into a drawing to win a free iPod Nano (did you know they now shoot video?). But there’s more: the three hunger-fighters who forward the video to the most people (only legit e-mails please!), will all win autographed copies of Josh’s novel, A Simple Girl.
How do you get started? Simple: go to FedUpWithHunger.org and watch the homepage vid. You’ll see an option to forward it to your friends. The Web site tracks all the results, so be sure to enter your real e-mail address, or at least one where we can contact you if you win.
In April of 1994, the Rwandan government broadcasted a call to arms over national airwaves inciting compatriots to rise up against a mortal enemy—their own countrymen. Hutu civilians took up machetes and went on a 100 day killing spree, wiping out nearly one million Tutsis, and moderate Hutus. The genocide was the culmination of a centuries-old power struggle between the two ethnic groups, which erupted into a cycle of violence during European colonial rule.
In a vastly different part of the world, 8-year-old Jonah Platt was enjoying something that young Rwandans would never know: childhood. Like most of the world, he was unaware of the atrocities being committed in this small African nation. But fifteen years later, the Los Angeles native decided to get personally involved. In April of 2009 he ventured to Rwanda to work at the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village (ASYV).
Jonah Platt teaches music to students of Agahozo Shalom in Rwanda
The Federation was one of the sponsors of JDub Records‘ Hidden Melodies Revealed: A Secret Celebration of Rosh Hashanah featuring Sway Machinery at Wilshire Blvd Temple. The fun evening, which was billed as part rock concert, part ritual, served as the unofficial kick-off of Give Life Meaning’s Fed Up With Hunger campaign.
Tzipi Livni, the leader of the Kadima Party (and the opposition leader in the Israeli Knesset), shared her insights on Israel/U.S. relations, Israel/Palestinian relations, and the continued threat to Israel by Iran with Federation lay leadership at our headquarters.
The Jewish Federation hosted an open and informal dialogue where community members were able to converse with newly elected local politicians about Jewish and civic concerns and the future of Los Angeles.
36 of the Federation’s top leadership members gathered at the home of Heidi and Jon Monkarsh to open up the Leadership Pillar’s Leadership Mentor Program. The dinner’s courses were paired with a series of questions guiding leaders through various conversations related to the future of Federation and their role in that future. Of the 16 pairs in the program, 15 were represented at this groundbreaking event.
Check out this behind the scenes look at the Center Theatre Group’s newest musical, Parade, winner of the 1999 Tony Award for Best Book and Best Music.
Based on the true story of Leo Frank, convicted for the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1913, Parade recounts the press frenzy and public outrage about Frank’s trial, and his wife’s crusade for justice. Amid religious intolerance, political injustice and racial tension, this stirring Tony Award®-winning musical explores the endurance of love and hope against all the odds. T.R. Knight — who played Dr. George O’Malley on Grey’s Anatomy — stars as Frank.
Details
September 24 – November 15, 2009
Mark Taper Forum
135 N. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
[ed note: Author David Lee is a Fed-staffer who works in the Community Relations department. The Federation is thrilled to have someone working for this initiative who is so knowledgeable and passionate about the issue.]
It’s been a few days since Ted Kennedy passed away and I can’t stop thinking about Jorge Munoz.
The two men couldn’t be any more different. Kennedy was privileged beyond belief, an heir to not only one of the wealthiest family fortunes in America, but also to a political dynasty. Munoz is a Colombian immigrant who came to the United States in the ‘80s after his father died in an accident.
Despite the struggles in his personal life, Kennedy devoted his life to fairness and morality, fighting to give guys like Munoz a fair shake. He crusaded tirelessly against genocide, homelessness, and discrimination of all sorts. He fought for labor, health care, and equal rights (to say nothing about what he did in the Soviet Jewry movement).
Munoz, on the other hand, earns $700 a week driving a school bus. After arriving home, he begins his second, unpaid job: feeding over 100 people a hot, home cooked meal at a subway stop in Queens. Every night. For the last four years. (He missed one night when a snow storm shut down the road).
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What do you get, besides satisfaction that you’re doing your part? Well, everyone who forwards the video will be automatically entered into a drawing to win a free 
