By: L. Halevi. HELP OUR FRIENDS (HOF) was founded by a group of business owners, Pinny Braun, Moishy Eigner, Yaakov Moshe Groner and and Moishy Jacobs. They saw their friends – fellow business owners – struggling, and collapsing under the pressure, and they decided to do something about it. They jumped into action and launched HOF with a simple premise: to help their friends in need.

The founders of HOF were very familiar, from personal experience, with the challenge of running a struggling business, while the world around them assumed – wrongly – that all was OK. They made it their mission to educate the public about the reality of struggling business owners.

All types of business owners, across all industries, in various stages of struggle turn to HOF. They finally had a place to turn to for help. HOF is a real life-saver and a real game changer for so many among us. From their launch in 2018, business owners began flocking to HOF, as they appreciated the credibility of the people behind the organization, who understood their situation – as they were themselves business owners with the same challenges – and felt comfortable that their identities would be protected

The more it got out there that HOF was available to help those in need, the larger the waiting list grew. To date hundreds of individuals have been assisted, but many more remain on the waiting list, as HOF has a very strict policy of only allocating funds that they have raised from the community; they do not give out funds against any future contributions.

One of the reasons that business owners in particular struggle more than other segments of the community, is that even when business is slow, they must continue to pay for their overhead.

Businesses often have major expenses to stay afloat, and the income generated is not stable, as it can be seasonal, temperamental or suffer due to market conditions.

Also, HOF has found that business owners in particular, are very hesitant to ask for assistance, or let it be known that their business is struggling. The reason for this is that their reputation is on the line. The unfortunate reality is that when people hear that a business is struggling financially, they automatically assume the business is falling apart and not a reliable enterprise and they go elsewhere. “When word got out that my business was slow,” said one business owner, “ people assumed that it would fold, and they simply stopped reaching out to me for their projects, as they were afraid I would disappear on them mid-project”.

For this reason, business owners must always pretend that all is well. To the world all seems stable and robust, but to the business owner, his spouse and his children, their lives are thrown into chaos, gloom and disarray.

“The waiting list of families who are not yet able to be helped by HOF literally makes me cry” said one of the founders. “They are our friends, our neighbors, our relatives. They need our help, but the funds are not always available. If the community would realize what we are doing, and recognize that the people waiting for help are their friends – literally – hopefully the waiting list would shrink or totally disappear!”

What’s crucial to understand about HOF is that it isn’t just about cash handouts. The mission of HOF is to help the struggling businesses get back on their feet so they don’t need financial assistance any longer. The goal of HOF is to make every struggling business owner self-sufficient again. And they are succeeding! Many individuals who were assisted by HOF have reclaimed their success, and are no longer dependent on financial assistance to survive.

Through a series of programs, such as business coaching, business restructuring, networking and general support, HOF has become a vital support resource for hundreds of business owners in our community.

While HOF assists business owners year-round, the most strained times of the year are before Yomim Tovim. The expenses are much greater then, and overall pressure during those times skyrockets.

The Pesach 5786 budget is $450,000. If that amount is not raised, some families will be left waiting for assistance, sadly.

HOF relies on the support of the community. Many business owners join the campaign and take pages where funds can be contributed.

Please respond generously by visiting the scoop’s exclusive page: https://www.charityextra.com/helpourfriends/tls

HOF is warmly endorsed by leading Rabbanim and Askanim, including Rav Shlomo Stein, HOF Rabbinical Advisor, Rav Shmuel Simcha Friedman, Rav Simcha Bunim Landinsky, Rav Nochum Malinowitz, Rav Chaim Meir Roth and many others who are very familiar with the people being helped, and the great service HOF is performing for the community.
The people being helped are our friends. These are people that would help you if you found yourself in need.