Fighting Hunger With Dignity at Masbia Soup Kitchen

Masbia, the only Kosher Soup Kitchen in NYC, welcomes the noted artist, Jodi Reznik; renowned Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser; distinguished New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind; prominent pediatrician Dr. Mark Lew and Janet Rugg Lew, Esquire Monday August 11, 2008 at Masbia 4114 14th Ave, near 41st St in Borough Park, Brooklyn at 3:30 P.M.

These prominent community leaders will join artist Reznik as she donates some of her works of art to the Masbia Kitchen. The artwork will decorate the walls of the soup kitchen, creating an atmosphere that is more like a nice restaurant, in contrast with the bare walls of a social service organization that merely serves the community's hungry.

According to Alexander Rapaport, co-founder of Masbia, the kitchen serves nearly 1,000 sumptuous kosher meals a week in a family friendly environment. "It breaks my heart when I see a Dad or Mom rummaging through the garbage hoping against hope to find dinner for the family!" said Rapaport. "We founded Masbia to end that kind of unhealthy desperate behavior."

Jodi Reznik has received great media attention for her "Portraits of the Fallen Angels Project" where she paints oil on canvas portraits of NYPD members who lose their lives in the line of duty, and presents them to the surviving families. She is donating the paintings to Masbia to support the great work of Masbia and to help them raise the $10,000 a week that they need to keep their doors open with dignity. "Few sights could be as satisfying as seeing the little ones eat up at Masbia just like other kids ... this is a cause I want to be part of!" said Artist Reznik.

Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser, noted author and lecturer for more than 20 years, notes that Masbia is doing the work of the patriarch Abraham. "What great satisfaction the patriarch must be having in Heaven watching Masbia on a daily basis," said Rabbi Goldwasser.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind, stated that more than 75% of food stamp recipients exhaust their benefits within the first three weeks of the month. "The great people at Masbia fill a void that none of us should ever know -- emptiness in children's stomachs," said Hikind who represents the district in Albany.

Dr. Mark and Janet Rugg Lew, who run Brooklyn's prestigious Lew Pediatric Center, will be serving meals together with Hikind, Reznik and Rabbi Goldwasser because of the impact they know it makes on a youngster's life. "Hundreds of children enter our doors each month. Most have ailments that we can cure. Hunger in children is heart breaking; the physical and psychological and emotional damage that it does to a child may be irreversible. We are proud to stand with these great New Yorkers in supporting the work of Masbia," said Janet Rugg Lew.

Prominent New York Pediatrician Dr. Mark Lew noted that, "looking back in time it will not matter much about the size of your bank account, your home, your car nor the clothes that you wore, but the world may just be a much better place because you mattered in the life of a child."