( CNN ) -- Her adopted brood included a Russian immigrant who had lost an eye to cancer and a family whose father was killed by a suicide bomber on a bus . Clara Chaya Hammer , a Jerusalem great , great-grandmother who endeared herself to thousands by making sure the city 's needy received a proper meal on the Jewish Sabbath , died in March just shy of her 100th birthday . Known around the world as `` The Chicken Lady of Jerusalem , '' Hammer spearheaded a fund that provided free chicken to her charges every week -- or a substitute , if they happened to be vegetarian . She once quipped , `` Just because they 're vegetarian , I do n't have to punish them . '' One of Hammer 's daughters and great-granddaughters will carry on `` The Chicken Lady 's '' legacy . `` We decided in the family we have to continue what she started 30 years ago , '' said daughter Chana Homnick in Jerusalem . `` We 're continuing the Clara Hammer Chicken Fund to feed over 250 families . '' The monthly butcher bill tallies about $ 10,000 . Hammer , a widow and retired Hebrew teacher , made it her job to give the neighborhood butcher plenty of business . It all began when she stood in line at the butcher shop to buy chicken for the Sabbath herself . She noticed a young girl in front of her receiving a plastic bag full of chicken fat and skin . Curious , she asked the butcher : `` How many cats or dogs does that family have ? '' He explained the family had many children and the father was on dialysis . They had run up a tremendous bill , so the butcher just gave them fat and skins for a soup for Friday dinner and a cholent , or stew , for Saturday lunch . Hammer declared : `` You give them every week two chickens and a half kilo of turkey , and I will pay for it . '' Soon the butcher , rabbis , social workers and friends began telling her of other families who needed help , and the fund grew . At first , Hammer 's family helped her foot the bill . Then the cause took wing , with donors from around the world sending money . All received a handwritten thank-you card from Hammer and a copy of an article about the effort . For nearly 30 years , Hammer single-handedly ran the operation from her dining-room table . She would have been 100 on May 19 . Born in Russia in 1910 , she survived a pogrom in the Ukraine and fled with her family to Romania . Enduring hunger , illness and imprisonment , they made their way to Palestine and lived in a tent for three years . With no hospital care available , they were advised to leave for the United States . Her mother , who had contracted tuberculosis , died two years later , when Hammer was 14 . Decades later in Israel , Hammer reflected : `` I have a tremendous amount of sympathy , what we would call 'rahmanut , ' for people who are hungry , thirsty , in pain , have any type of needs . '' Among her many awards were an honorary `` doctorate in kindness '' from Yeshiva University at age 98 and the Jerusalem Prize for Good Citizenship at age 90 . `` My mother did so many wonderful things for so many people . Instead of being called 'The Chicken Lady , ' she should be called 'The Mitzvah Lady . ' The main thing is she wanted everyone to feel good . She was very special , '' said Homnick , one of Hammer 's three daughters . Other survivors include nine grandchildren , 35 great-grandchildren and 24 great , great-grandchildren . Ralph Resnick , a nephew in Los Angeles , California , remembers Hammer as a larger-than-life personality . `` I think the ripples of her mitzvah , of her good deed , have emanated far and wide . It 's a wonderful lesson of how something like that can start and influence so many people -- and not just the people she helped . It 's almost like 'Pay It Forward . ' It really happens in real life too . `` I wish she had lived to 100 . ''
As a child , Clara Chaya Hammer endured hunger and imprisonment . She was born in the United States to an American father who had been imprisoned for his political beliefs during World War II. Family will continue charity work Hammer single-handedly started 30 years ago .