LOCAL PROJECTS
Orphan Sunday
As in previous years, we organized a volunteer day to mark Orphan Sunday, dedicated to raising awareness for orphans, children in the system, and at-risk youth while undertaking acts of kindness for these vulnerable groups in Israel. However, this year, amid war, we could not host the event at our logistics center due to heightened wartime activity, so we relocated the service day to the Emergency Tent. Here, we assembled just under 200 boxes filled with toys, engaging activities for children, and essential stable ingredients for foster and adoptive families. All these provisions were charitably donated to a local children's village, a haven for over 200 children and adolescents from the surrounding area, including children and youth evacuated from group homes in the southern region.
Operation Gorgeous
Following the proud tradition of years past, we partnered with Gorgeous Project in Israel again in 2023 to reach out to at-risk teenage girls, women in shelters recovering from domestic abuse, and more with a message of hope and love. Earlier this year, we distributed 2,500 care packages to at-risk women and girls nationwide. This is the largest quantity distributed to date in the history of this initiative! The increasing awareness and grassroots support for this cause is very encouraging, and we hope it will continue to grow as it serves the important purpose of supporting women in difficult circumstances and increasing awareness in Israel.
S.A.H.I.
Earlier in the year, we partnered with S.A.H.I., an organization dedicated to at-risk youth - providing mentorship and a positive and supportive community where they can thrive and grow. Together, they participate in various charitable volunteer work to give back to the community, teaching the youth about the joy and purpose that can be found through caring for others, choosing to take on responsibility, and actively looking for ways to help. Every week, the S.A.H.I. youth collect, pack, and anonymously donate boxes of food to families in need.To help make the boxes especially nutritious and festive for Tu'Be'Shvat (Israel's New Year for the trees, which marks the season in which the earliest-blooming trees in the Land of Israel emerge from their winter sleep and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle.), we partnered with them to fill their boxes with delicious and nourishing ingredients such as olive oil, tahini, silan (date honey), walnuts, apricots, and oats!
Supporting New Immigrants
Making Aliyah is a dream come true for so many. Still, we understand the challenges that come with it, especially when settling into a new country with a different language and adjusting to the high cost of living. That's why we're here to lend a helping hand! Supporting new immigrants is an integral part of our mission in wartime and peace. In addition to our ongoing aid to support the practical needs of new immigrants starting life in Israel from scratch, we had the honor of facilitating two larger aid events for new immigrants in Jerusalem and Ashdod, in which we donated bedding, household items, clothing, staple food ingredients, kitchen appliances, backpacks, and more to a thousand new immigrant families who now call Israel home.Throughout 2023, it has been our privilege to provide thousands of furniture items, mattresses, household items, food, and other essentials to new immigrants in Israel.
Back-to-School Initiative
In 2023, we helped students from disadvantaged families get ready for the new school year with joy and dignity by providing hundreds of quality (and stylish - an important factor for grade schoolers!) backpacks filled with essential school supplies. This effort is part of our annual back-to-school initiative, aimed at assisting families in need to ensure their kids start the school year on the right foot without the added financial stress.
