Dear Friends, Supporters, and Community Partners:
Across our community, more families are struggling to meet their most basic needs.
Over the past 15 months, JFS has experienced a $2 million reduction in federal funding for immigrant services programs – nearly 90% of the support that sustained this work. At the same time, cuts to SNAP are affecting many of the nearly 8,000 individuals and families we serve each year who rely on that program to help feed their households.
These reductions have forced difficult decisions, including reductions in staffing and scaled-back access to legal assistance, case management, and stabilization services that help families navigate complex immigration requirements and maintain stability.
And the need continues to grow.
Food insecurity is rising.
Immigration services are shrinking.
More families are struggling to afford housing, heat, and basic necessities.
Your support can help ensure these families do not face these challenges alone. Please consider making a gift to JFS today.
This moment makes the message of Passover feel especially meaningful. Each spring, Jewish families gather around the Passover table to retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt, a story about hardship, freedom, and the responsibility we carry for one another. Early in the Seder, we recite a simple invitation: “Let all who are hungry come and eat.”
For generations, those words have reminded us that dignity and freedom mean little if our neighbors are left behind. They call on us to make sure that everyone in our community has food, stability, and support.
At moments like this, community generosity becomes the strongest safety net we have.
For nearly 50 years, JFS has worked alongside community partners to stretch every dollar and ensure that help reaches those who need it most.
This Passover season, I invite you to turn that tradition into action by making a gift to JFS.
Your generosity helps stock our food pantry, provide legal guidance and case management for immigrant families, and ensure vulnerable neighbors have the support they need.
Please make your gift today so JFS can continue welcoming those who are hungry, struggling, or seeking support.
Together, we can ensure that everyone in our community has a place at the table.
With gratitude,
Lino Covarrubias
P.S. The words “Let all who are hungry come and eat” remind us that caring for one another is a shared responsibility. Your gift today helps ensure families facing hardship are not left behind.
*Photo captions, from left: The JFS Lucy and Joe Press Food Pantry provides emergency food assistance to frail older adults and families in our community to meet basic nutritional needs; Volunteer Mikey Darish organized a food drive for is Bar Mitzvah, donating non-perishable items to the JFS Food Pantry; The Neighbor’s Project coordinated a food drive to support immigrant families experiencing food insecurity as benefits were temporarily unavailable and access to food was limited; Sponsored by CJP, JFS coordinates the distribution of hundreds of Passover meals to low-income community members across Massachusetts (photo: Anna Bloxham).