By RYAN FAGAN
Have you heard of NECHAMA? I hadn't heard of them until a kid at my synagogue spoke about working with them for his Bat Mitzvah project.What is NECHAMA?NECHAMA is not only the Hebrew word for "comfort"... NECHAMA is a voluntary organization based here in the Twin Cities metro of Minnesota that provides natural disaster preparedness, response, and recovery services nationwide. Through the years they have brought comfort to disaster survivors by training and mobilizing thousands of volunteers to help communities after floods, tornadoes, and other natural disasters.NECHAMA's work is rooted in the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam, Hebrew for repairing the world through acts of goodness. They offer help to all people affected by disaster on the basis of need regardless of religious affiliation. It all began back in 1993 during the disastrous floods in Iowa. Other well known disasters that the organization has helped with recovery are the Red River floods in 1997 in North Dakota, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005, and the Texas floods of 2015.If you want to learn more, or help out, feel free to give them a visit at www.nechama.org