By Danit Schusterman
Imagine if your single dollar could reach and even help hundreds of Shluchim of the Rebbe in their holy work?
That is the premise of a new and unique fundraising platform DollarDaily.org which will be distributing funds to the dedicated couples on Shlichus across the globe using the collective power of joining giving.
A single $1 may not be a substantial donation, but when 7,500 people are giving $1 a day, such as on the Tzedaka project DailyGiving, that’s $7,500 that is available to assist a Shliach and Shlucha who are facing personal financial hardship or have an urgent need in their community.
Yosef and Sarah Shidler run CJ Studios Photography in Lakewood, New Jersey, and regularly receive requests for tzedaka from Shluchim. “We really try our best to help and give to as many people and institutions as we can, but I sometimes feel like what we’re giving is just a drop in the bucket,” he says.
“I know so many Shluchim in the middle of nowhere who are struggling for food and basic funds to clothe their children,” says Shidler. He says Shluchim may have a successful fundraiser once a year but there’s always a point in the summer or during the year when they are strapped for funds.
Inspired by the Rebbe’s Keren Hashana (which funds Machne Israel) and which the Rebbe encouraged all chassidim to join, and the tzedaka project DailyGiving, Shidler came up with the idea of DollarDaily.org which would pool together an annual amount from small donations and then distribute them in large amounts.
He contacted Rabbi Shlomo Friedman of Yad L’shliach fund which grants personal financial gifts to Shluchim, and Mica Soffer, Publisher and Editor of COLlive.com which regularly reports about Shluchim’s activities and features fundraisers for them.
The concept is simple: You donate a dollar a day for either a full year of 365 days or a single month of 30 days. A Shluchim couple will be chosen on a daily basis to receive the accumulative amount that has been collected directly to their bank account.
The goal is to begin distributing funds to Shluchim on Friday, October 1, 2021 – 25 Tishrei 5782. The process will enjoy full transparency as the list of Chabad centers be receiving the funds will be posted publicly on https://dollardaily.org/calendar.php
There will be an effort to diversify the recipients of the funds by establishing categories as Shluchim in small towns, servicing the elderly, or teens, Shluchim dedicated to giving shiurim, new Shluchim, schools and day camps, and even according to geography.
Rabbi Friedman, whose Yad L’shliach has distributed more than $3 million since its inception, says preference will be given to urgent needs. A form on the website will allow Shluchim to make a timely appeal.
Overseeing the distribution will be a Vaad comprised of Rabbi Shlomo Friedman of Yad L’shliach; Shliach Rabbi Yochanan Friedman of S. Cruz, CA, Shliach Rabbi Yossi Lew of Peachtree City, Georgia; Shliach Rabbi Mendel Feller of West St. Paul, Minnesota; Shliach Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin of Tucson, Arizona; and Yosef Shidler.
“There are tens of thousands of dollars that are being donated through COLlive.com on an ongoing basis and we are glad to be able to help direct some of those funds to assist Shluchim,” says Mica Soffer.
The cost is $385 per year (which is $1.05 a day) or $32.25 monthly ($1.06 a day). One dollar will be given directly to the Shluchim on your behalf. The remaining funds will be used toward credit card processing and other operational fees which will come to around $20 extra per year. Any and all surplus of money, if it should exist, will be given directly to Shluchim.
“My hope here is that for less than the amount that most people spend on a cup of coffee per day, they are pooled together with hundreds and hopefully thousands of people, that $1 a day can help so many Shluchim on a daily basis,” Shidler says.
As Yom Kippur approaches, DollarDaily.org will be serving a triple purpose – encouraging people to give tzedaka, supporting the Rebbe’s Shlichus around the world and uniting Jews from all walks of life on a daily basis. All that, for just $1 a day.
VIDEO: When you give your money to charity, do you get richer or poorer? The Rebbe has a surprising answer.
To join a “Dollar a Day for Shluchim”, visit DollarDaily.org
I’ve been wanting this for a long time. Thank you so much.
Brilliant idea! Was waiting for something like this for years with transparent daily giving. Thank you for putting this together and making it happen.
Could there also be a slot in 770 (like where all the organizations are) to put in tzedakah too?
This is so beautiful!!
Yosef Shidler and his wife are true mentchen!!
Yossi and Sarah are at the headlines making sure shluchim are well taken care of!!