NECHAMA’s work is coming to end in the RI area. We are pleased to say that we had more then 60 different volunteers and we clean up over 40 homes. Our last day will be Friday, May 7th. We thank the staff at the Jewish Community Center of RI and the staff at the Jewish Federation of RI who partnered with us. Help is still available even when we are gone, please contact Wendy Joering at the JFRI 401 421 4111.

TENNESSEE FLOODS: Powerful thunderstorms across the Southeast over the weekend drenched the region with heavy rains and left at least 24 people dead in Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi, including 10 people in the Nashville area. Though the rain tailed off late Sunday night here, runoff continued to pour into the Cumberland River, which crested at 51.8 feet on Monday evening. Dan Hoeft, Deployment Manager for NECHAMA will arrive next week in the Nashville area to access the situation. We will know more information by the end of next week. (May 14, 2010)