Support our Omer Project to help the needy

Pesach and Shavuot are harvest festivals celebrating and giving thanks for our food. The period between the two festivals is known as the days of the Omer. The Omer (literally: sheaf) was an offering brought to the Temple on the second day of Pesach.
There is a traditional saying: ‘eyn kemach, eyn Torah’ which might be translated, ‘where there is no food, there is no culture’. One can’t learn or develop without adequate basic nourishment.
I would therefore like to propose that during the seven week period of the Omer this year, each time any one of us comes to Beit Emanuel, for any purpose, we bring with us an Omer offering. This would be a single item of non-perishable food: tinned foods such as fish and meat, peanut butter, soup, tea, coffee, or sugar, mealie meal and maize rice. As an alternative, a donation of at least one rand would count.
At the end of seven weeks the accumulated food would be divided between Beit Emanuel Sisterhood and the United Sisterhood to aid the charities they support. The cash donations would also be given to a charitable cause. The project ends on Shavuot, Saturday 26 May 2012.
I hope that the members of Beit Emanuel will support this project. Let’s build a veritable Mount Sinai of food for everyone in need.
Rabbi Ash