Mitzvah for Emma

Dear Friends of Emma,

It's been a few months since we lost our dear friend, mentor, sister, coach and champion. What some of you may not know is that in her last year, Emma faced financial struggles. She turned to the Hebrew Free Loan Association for help, and asked two of her friends to back her loan.

Given her illness, she was unable to pay back much of the loan before she died. Her two guarantors are now responsible for the balance of $3500. In addition, Emma's headstone will cost about $2500.

At Emma's funeral, as we prepared to help bury Emma, Rabbi David Mivasair reminded us that the greatest mitzvah is one that cannot be repaid. With that intention, we all took turns shovelling earth onto Emma's coffin.

In that same spirit, we will repay Emma's debt and pay for her headstone - Emma was a tremendously generous soul who would have done the same for any of us.

Thinking of this as a mitzvah opportunity, we'd like to extend an invitation to Emma's community to help contribute to these costs and give others the opportunity to do a great, selfless deed.

We have added a small amount to our goal to cover the service fee charged by this excellent fundraising site (about 8% total).

A sincere thank you to all for reading and considering contributing; for those able to give, any amount is truly appreciated. If we learned anything from Emma, it is to be generous, giving and selfless in service to our friends and community.

May her memory be for a blessing.