Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival 2024
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15th | 4:00 PM
FREE screening, Registration Required
Film followed by a panel discussion with founding members of Nechama.
In the Spring of1993, Steve Lear, a Minneapolis resident watched in disbelief as the floods in Des Moines, Iowa devastated the city. Wanting to help, he called the Red Cross to volunteer, but to his surprise, was told that he couldn’t because he wasn’t “trained” in cleaning up after a flood.
Undeterred, he got in his car with 3 friends and drove to Des Moines to see what he could do. From there, a 30 year story has unfolded of groups of Jewish volunteers from the Twin Cities packing up trailers full of tools and heading into communities devastated by natural disasters such as floods, tornadoes and hurricanes.
Nechama, which means “to comfort” in Hebrew, is now a national organization helping thousands of disaster victims every year. And it all started here… with a guy who just wanted to help.
Screenwriter: Dale Bluestein
Producer: Dale Bluestein, PartnershipMEDIA
Co-Producer: Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest
Presented in Partnership JCC Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival 2024
and the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest