Amazing Augusta

A 13-year-old raises more than $1, 000 to give Israeli soldiers a great evening.

A

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
AppleTree Editor

ugusta Morrison is
sponsoring dinner for
more than 40 men and
women in Israel, none
of whom she has ever met.
Furthermore, Augusta, of
Huntington Woods, is only 13 —
and she's not using a credit card
and she hasn't borrowed a single
dollar. So how is she doing it?
A number of months ago,
Augusta was speaking with her
aunt, who lives in Israel and has a
son, Tomer, serving with the Israel
Defense Forces (IDF) in Hebron.
The conversation turned to Israel's
problems — specifically the eco-
nomic ones.
Israel is a nation dependent on
tourism, which has severely
dropped in recent years because of
the increased number of terrorist
attacks. Among the industries suf-
fering most are those that directly
serve tourists, such as hotels and
restaurants.
Just about this time, Augusta, the
daughter of David Morrison and
Deborah Roberts, was about to
become bat mitzvah. She decided
this would be the time to make a
contribution to the State of Israel.
"There are a lot of problems
there now," she said, "and I
thought it would be nice to help
out."
Augusta, a student at Norup
Middle School who plays the violin
and soccer, asked those attending
her bat mitzvah ceremony at
Congregation Beth Shalom to con-

tribute to a fund. For a donation of
$40, they would feed two Israeli
soldiers at a kosher restaurant in
Israel.
The program was first launched
through Congregation Shaaray
Tefilah of North Miami Beach,
Fla., which is working with
eluna.com , a Web site for kosher
restaurants in Israel, to provide
coupons to Israeli families and sol-
diers for free meals at the restau-
rants.
"Maimonides teaches that the
highest form of tzedakah is to bring
work to the faltering, thereby con-
tributing to their economic solven-
cy without the loss of self-respect,"
the congregation writes.
Working with eluna, Shaarey
Tefilah has "developed a two-
pronged program that brings both
needed revenue to Israeli businesses
while saluting the Israeli security
forces."
Augusta's bat mitzvah celebration
was less than six weeks ago. Already
she has collected more than
$1,000, and contributions are still
coming in.
Among those impressed by
Augusta's project is Rabbi David
Nelson of Beth Shalom.
"She's a remarkable young
woman," he said. "She's still so
young, yet she has such a love for
Israel; and she was able to take a
concept and make it into a reality."
If you would like to make a con-
tribution to Augusta's project,
please make checks payable to Tal
Frankle-Trustee to: Augusta
Morrison, 8642 Hendrie,
Huntington Woods, MI 48070.

Learn more about the Congregation Shaarey Tefila-eluna project,
go to: vvvvvv.eluna.comigolaniproject.asp

Augusta Morrison helps out from afar.

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2003

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