Posted on 11/09/20
Baltimore, MD – Nov. 9, 2020 – After many community members were visited by Meshulachim displaying expired certification letters, BJL fielded many requests asking us to find out the current status of the Agudath Israel of Baltimore’s certification letters/Scrip program. BJL spoke with an AIB representative who brings the community up to date:
BJL: On July 27th of this year, Baltimore Jewish Life published a letter from Agudath Israel of Baltimore regarding the Meshulachim certification program. Can you provide an update? Have you resumed granting Meshulachim certificates?
AIB: Thank you for reaching out to us. The Meshulachim certification program is a very important program for us; it helps guarantee that the tzedaka money that we are stewards over is properly spent. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, we continue to feel that it is unsafe to have Meshulachim going door to door and potentially expose members of our community to the virus. As soon as we feel it is safe to resume certifying the Meshulachim, we will restart that program.
BJL: What should I do when a Meshulach comes to my home?
AIB: We recommend that you not open your door.
BJL: Recently, I've seen Meshulachim collecting with expired certificates. Since they were given the initial certificate, and the Agudah is not providing new ones, isn't it reasonable to allow them to collect?
AIB: We recommend that you only give a donation to someone with a current certificate that has not expired.
BJL: I've seen current certificates from other cities. Can't I give those Meshulachim?
AIB: We recommend that you only give a donation to someone with a certificate based on the guidelines and verification appropriate for our community.
BJL: I already gave scrip and or checks made out to the Agudah Charity Fund to a Meshulach recently. Aren't you going to "cash them out"?
AIB: No, the Agudah will only cash out checks and scrip for an individual with a valid, current, Meshulachim certificate. As we are not currently distributing certificates, we are also not "cashing out" funds that have been collected.
BJL: What about the scrip I placed in the pushka at shul or yeshiva?
AIB: We have a safe mechanism in place to make sure that communal scrip is properly distributed.
BJL: I have an individual who really needs the funds, and I depend on the Meshulachim program to have my tzedaka monies reach the intended recipient. Is there anything I can do?
AIB: We recently added a Paypal link to the Agudah Charity Fund on our donations page. As long as either the donor or recipient is a member of the Baltimore community, we will make sure that the donation reaches its intended recipient. Please provide any instructions in the memo section with all the relevant information, as per the attached image.
BJL: Thank you
AIB: You’re very welcome