JGooders Israel Emergency Fund lets you choose how to help

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 | posted by

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At our last staff meeting, in the middle of discussing technical upgrades to the JGooders site, Ronit Dolev interrupted the debate with the news that four IDF soldiers had been killed in action. Israel is such a small and close-knit country that we all have friends, family and colleagues putting their lives at risk right now to protect us.

JGooders is responding to the unfolding events by emphasising the importance of helping those organizations that are working in Israel’s Southern Front Line. We have set up our own emergency fund to add 10% to all donations received for these vital projects, and we hope you will join us in supporting them.

Emergency Fund for Israel

This is the article we released to announce the JGooders Israel Emergency Fund:

Normal life in Southern Israel has ceased. As missiles rain down on schools, kindergartens and residential apartments, many services within the 30km firing range of Gaza have been shut down and families huddle in bomb shelters.

Avrohom Leventhal, Executive Director of Lema’an Achai, an NPO based in Beit Shemesh, just out of missile range, explains how his organization, which won awards for its relief efforts for Northern residents during the last Lebanon War, is not only supplying toys and supplies for bomb shelters, but has worked together with the Beit Shemesh municipality and other local organizations to bring 1,200 school students from Southern communities to study in safety every day. Says Leventhal, “Right now we are bussing them in daily to our schools and community centers, because they want to return to their families and homes at night. That is a decision the families themselves made and we respect that. But we are prepared for if the situation changes.”

Nili Raymond describes the tense situation in Sderot, where her organization, Person to Person, runs a project for elderly individuals living alone that provides food packages, home repairs and emotional support, “Life was not easy for the city’s elderly before, but now it is just appalling. Our local volunteers usually visit the elderly once every two weeks, make small household repairs and also arrange for a local supermarket to deliver to them a package of food and household items that they’ve requested. In this tense situation, we have increased visits to once a week, both for the emotional relief and also because neighbors and others who in normal times could offer occasional help are now under their own stress and not available. And we want to buy them all emergency lights so that in the case of power outages they won’t be stuck in the dark.”

For it is at times like this that the best of Israel reveals itself, as dozens of organizations and individuals have risen to the challenge of helping those suffering from the dangers and stress of life on the Front line. Beyond Israel, there has been an outpouring of emotional support from Jews and supporters of Israel, who are searching for ways to help, but want to make sure that their limited funds are put to good use.

JGooders is committed to assisting projects related to this recent crisis, caring for Israeli civilians living under missile fire, To this end, JGooders has established an Emergency Fund, through which it will add 10% to every gift contributed to the very worthy projects listed on the site, that are actively working with the populations who are caught in the middle of this conflict.

Speaking from Ashkelon where he is accompanying a group of foreign journalists, Aryeh Green, Director of Media Central, says, “My son is in the IDF serving on Israel’s Northern Border, my daughter is serving on the Southern Border and my 16 year-old daughter is helping local kids deal with the stress of war. The wonderful thing about JGooders is that, just like my family, people want to help in different ways. So whether it’s through supporting Media Central in our work providing services for foreign journalists in Israel, or whether through organizations supporting the IDF or the various social welfare groups caring for children and families affected by the war, JGooders is the best choice for helping Israel today.”

Says JGooders Co-Founder, Ronit Dolev, “One of our most meaningful and beautiful Jewish values is “Arevut Hadadit”, caring for each other. This is a time in which we all need to practice this, while praying for the war to end soon and for peace to prevail in the region.