Last week, Assemblymember Rick Zbur (AD-51), Democratic Caucus Chair, visited the Los Angeles Jewish community.

Assm. Zbur visited Tomchei LA’s distribution center where kosher food products are distributed to families in need. Assm. Zbur assisted in packaging boxes and then addressed all the volunteers, explaining that he feels a special connection with the Jewish community. He also expressed his support for Israel and sympathy for the victims of the terror attacks. Assm. Zbur also toured Our Big Kitchen Los Angeles, an organization that provides ready-cooked meals to charities. He was impressed with the communal organizations he visited and asked Agudath Israel of America’s California Office, which arranged the visit, to follow up with him on how he can continue helping the community and its organizations.

Assm. Zbur’s visit was a result of Agudah’s delegation to Sacramento in August, where the participants advocated for an expanded California Nonprofit Security Grant, for which the funding was recently doubled, and to include nonpublic schools in California’s Universal Meals Program. At the time, Assm. Zbur expressed interest in visiting the Jewish community in Los Angeles and some of its organizations.

Additionally, Assm. Zbur was a strong voice and advocate for the successful expansion of the security grant in this past legislative session. The Agudah worked to expand the grant to include communal security infrastructure expenses. Mr. Ari Goldner, a volunteer Community Team Member of the Magen Am security agency who was on duty at Tomchei LA, took the opportunity to thank Assm. Zbur for his successful push to keep the community safe.

“Thanks to Assm. Zbur’s efforts, we can now be proactive in addressing suspicious activity in a school or shul before it happens and avert a potential crisis,” said Mr. Goldner.

“The Agudah is grateful to Assemblymember Zbur for taking the time to visit our community and for his continued support,” said Rabbi Yaakov Subar, director of Agudah’s California Office. “His visit gave him a chance to really see the community at work and gave us an opportunity to express our gratitude to Assemblymember Zbur for his work on our behalf. We anticipate continuing to work with Assemblymember Zbur on addressing our community’s needs.