I could easily fill up a book with the stories people have told me about the impact the events that took place on June 19th, 1953 had on their lives. That was the day my parents were executed. Most of the stories are sad, even tragic. Others can make you very angry. But there were also some good things that happened on that day.

I received the following note from a supporter yesterday:

One of the four questions often asked at a Seder is: “why is this night different from all other nights?” I’ve adapted that question to the Rosenberg Fund for Children and ask: “what makes the Rosenberg Fund for Children different from all other organizations?”

One way I’ve tried to make this organization stand out is by answering personally all notes and letters that are addressed to me by our constituency. This is a daunting task because even in the email age, almost every day several of you drop me a line.

I started this blog to address issues of particular concern to the RFC community. I hope you will agree that I’ve done that in the 31 blogs I’ve posted since I started on this path last spring. For the final installment of 2009 I’m going to shed this restraint and post something that I hope will be of general interest to everyone, rather than just RFC readers.

I often assess the passing year as the new one approaches. I have mixed feelings about 2009. The start of the year, like the second half of 2008, was really scary at the RFC. The country was in financial melt-down, people were losing their jobs, and that had ominous implications for our fund raising prospects as the year progressed.

December 10th marked the 61st anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Declaration) by the United Nations. It was celebrated locally and world wide as Human Rights Day.