Fund set up for family of missing boater Eli Horowitz

http://www.cjnews.com/viewarticle.asp?id=10286

By SHERI SHEFA
Staff Reporter

A volunteer committee has established a fund to help support the family of a Toronto man who is presumed to have drowned on Lake Nipissing.

It's been more than a month since, 30, and his father-in-law Heine Mondrowitz, 56, went missing during a fishing trip near North Bay.

Although Mondrowitz's body was found a week after their rented, 19-foot boat drifted ashore empty near the lakeside community, Horowitz's body has yet to be found.

David Stein, a good friend of Horowitz and a fellow paramedic with Hatzolah, has been instrumental in keeping the search going.

He and Hatzolah, a volunteer emergency medical service for the Orthodox community that Horowitz helped found in Toronto, have offered a reward of $10,000 for the recovery of his body.

Stein said the search by air, land and water is continuing and that he is still in touch with the Ontario Provincial Police.

''The OPP believes very strongly that he is underwater,'' said Stein, who vowed the search will continue until Horowitz's body is recovered.

Meanwhile, Horowitz's his wife and three children , all under age five, are relying on the community to help them through this difficult time.

Horowitz supported his family by running a small paint business, but because he had cystic fibrosis, a respiratory disease, he was not able to get life insurance.

A 20-person committee consisting of friend's of the family and ''concerned people in the community'' was set up last month to try to provide Horowitz's young family with a modest income.

Mark Rosenblatt, Horowitz's friend and one of the volunteers who helped establish the Eli Horowitz Fund, said he wanted to make sure the family will be looked after.

''We're trying to put together a fund that will be administered by a group of trustees, and hopefully we'll raise enough that they can live modestly on the income,'' Rosenblatt said, adding that the goal is to raise a lump sum within the next two months and invest it.

Rabbi Yitzchak Feigenbaum, who also sits on the committee, said that while many people are volunteering their time and effort for this cause, businessmen Philip Reichmann and Nathan Uhr are the two main players who are making the fund happen.

''They are the ones who are administrating it and setting it up so that it runs properly, that the money is distributed in the right fashion,'' Rabbi Feigenbaum said. ''They are the main movers and shakers, just out of the goodness of their hearts. I don't even think they knew Eli. They just doing this as a community service for a family that needs our help.''

Horowitz, who was originally from Toronto but grew up in Monsey, N.Y., before moving back to Toronto eight years ago, was very involved in the community, Rosenblatt said.

''He was the type of guy who would do anything for anyone. That's just the type of guy that he was. The community came first in his eyes.''

''He was altruistic. He was a very community-minded person. He was a Hatzolah volunteer, notwithstanding he had a lot of difficulties in his own life, he always found time for other people,'' Rabbi Feigenbaum said.

''And he always had a smile. You would never know that he had difficulties in his own life. He was a very accepting person, a non-judgmental kind of guy,'' he added.

He said that the initiative to raise money for the family can be tricky because while the committee is trying to get the word out about the fund, they also want to to be as sensitive to the family as possible.

''We want to be discreet but professional,'' Rabbi Feigenbaum said.

He added that the family is doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances.

''The kids are in school, his wife goes about her business, but it is a difficult time because they are still in limbo. The search continues.''

He said that while the committee wants to avoid high-profile, ''splashy'' fundraising events, if anyone is interested in hosting a small gathering to raise some money for the family, they can contact the committee.

Contact information can be found at www.ehfund.com and tax-deductible donations can be made by credit card on the site