B'nai B'rith International

On October 13, 1843, B'nai B'rith was founded in New York City. From the article:

"B'nai B'rith International
In 1843, Henry Jones and 11 other German-Jewish immigrants gathered in Sinsheimer's Café on New York's Lower East Side to confront what Isaac Rosenbourg, one of B'nai B'rith's founders, called "the deplorable condition of Jews in this, our newly adopted country."

Thus, B'nai B'rith (children of the covenant) was born.

The original members' first concrete action was creating an insurance policy that awarded members' widows $30 toward funeral expenses, and a stipend of one dollar a week for the rest of their lives. Each child would also receive a stipend and, for male children, assurance he would be taught a trade.

It is from this basis of humanitarian aid and service that a system of fraternal lodges and chapters grew in the United States and, eventually, around the world.

Many of the earliest achievements of B'nai B'rith represented firsts within the Jewish community, including aid in response to disasters:
In 1851, Covenant Hall was erected in New York as the first Jewish community center in the United States.
One year later, B'nai B'rith established in New York the Maimonides Library, the first Jewish public library in the United States.
Immediately following the Civil War—when Jews on both sides of the battle were left homeless—B'nai B'rith founded the 200-bed Cleveland Jewish Orphan Home, described as the most modern orphanage of its time.
In 1868, when a devastating flood crippled Baltimore, B'nai B'rith responded with a disaster relief campaign. This act preceded the founding of the American Red Cross by 13 years and was the first of many domestic relief programs.
That same year, B'nai B'rith sponsored its first overseas philanthropic project, raising $4,522 to aid the victims of a cholera epidemic in what was then Palestine.
International Affairs
B'nai B'rith involvement in international affairs dates to the 1870s when anti-Semitism reached new heights in Romania. Through the influence of B'nai B'rith, the U.S. government established a consulate there, and a former B'nai B'rith president, Benjamin Peixotto, was appointed the first consul.

B'nai B'rith was present at the founding of the United Nations in San Francisco and has taken an active role ever since as an NGO (nongovernmental organization) advocating for Israel and human rights at the U.N. and other international organizations.

With the graying of the American-Jewish population, service to seniors became a major focus in 1971. In that year B'nai B'rith opened its first senior residence in what would become a network of 40 senior residences in more than 25 communities across the United States and internationally. B'nai B'rith is the largest national Jewish sponsor of housing for seniors.

B'nai B'rith International has not moved far from its roots, but rather allowed these roots to grow in more than 50 countries worldwide. No other Jewish organization can point to a longer, more all-encompassing history of service to Jews and all people around the world."