Dear Friends,

Take a minute to look at this picture of Ezra at Yellowstone National Park. This picture captures Ezra in his USY on Wheels bus with writing on the window and Ezra with his Maimo Baseball hat, taking in the beauty and the grandeur that is Yellowstone.  We are nearing our annual adventure which celebrates Ezra’s life while raising money for OneFamily, whose mission it is to support families who have lost loved ones to terrorism.

This year, on September 11th, after spending Shabbos in Yellowstone at Canyon Village, we will be hiking and running in Grand Teton National Park. The day will include a 20 mile trek with 4000 feet of climbing over the paintbrush canyon/cascade canyon loop and for others there are several shorter hikes available. 

This idea started while I was sitting in our living room sitting shiva. We had the most incredible support from countless individuals, but I wanted to run away. I wanted to find some trail in the middle of the woods where I could scream and cry as loud as I could and I wanted to just keep running. I started to think about where I could go and how long I could go. But over time I realized that all the effort and attention from family and friends and from those we did not even know, was helping and I realized it was better to run with family and friends rather than run alone. I decided that I don’t want to remember Nov. 19th 2015, I want to remember Oct. 1st, Erev Rosh Hashana, the day Ezra was born, and I want to go to the places where Ezra had been, as a way to celebrate his life. 

In the last 5 years we have raised about $71,000. As is our tradition we are asking for just 18$ from each person. 18! Which represents life and represents the 18 years of Ezra’s life. We are thankful for the time we had with him. One family has introduced us to so many people who lost loved ones well before the age of 18 and our children, while attending camps in Israel, met kids of all ages who lost their parents or siblings. Please, help us support OneFamily and go to their website https://onefamilyfundus.org/ to see what they are doing with your support.

We are thankful that Ezra was able to see Yellowstone, and now he is bringing us there to see it for ourselves. 

Thank you for your support!
The Schwartz Family