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Dear Friends,
As I write this letter, it is hard to believe that it has been almost 2 months since the horrific terrorist attacks of October 7. As the war wages on most of the hostages are still being held in captivity and rockets continue to be fired at Israel. Israeli civilians have been evacuated from border towns in both the North and the South, and daily life is disrupted by security threats.
Soldiers returning from the war, victims of terror and hostage families have injuries and trauma that must be addressed. The economy is suffering from having such a large proportion of its population serving in its military. In other words, our Israeli "family" has vast humanitarian needs.
Thank you for stepping up to help meet those needs.
You, the Jewish community of Stamford, New Canaan, and Darien have raised another $500,000 for UJF to send to Israel, bringing the total raised to over $1,000,000 for UJF's Israel Emergency Campaign.
Last week our Emergency Campaign allocations committee comprised of David Fischer, Mike Moskowitz, Ken Neuhaus, Molly Rafalowicz, Beverly Stein, Rachel Waldstreicher and myself met to allocate the second $500,000 of funds raised. Once again, this diverse group thoughtfully evaluated the potential recipient organizations and discussed how to most effectively deploy our community’s donations, given Israel’s current needs.
Within the four categories of pressing humanitarian needs identified by the committee, Jewish Federation of North America’s partner agencies that can best use your donations to meet those needs were selected:
1.Evacuation, Housing, Respite and Support for Frontline Communities $200,000
- Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) – evacuating residents from Southern absorption centers, providing respite activities for evacuees, helping to rebuild devastated border communities, interest-free loans for small businesses in Southern Israel
- JDC - distributing food and medicine, and providing critical social services to displaced poor and elderly Israelis
- Leket Israel – distributing hot meals and grocery baskets to displaced families
- Dror Israel – providing day care and programming for youth in hotels and bomb shelters
- Brothers and Sisters for Israel – civil emergency headquarters, dispatching assistance of all kinds to victims and evacuees
- Jordan River Village – providing housing for evacuated families with children who have special needs or serious illnesses
2.Victims of Terror $100,000
- JAFI Fund for Victims of Terror – providing immediate financial assistance to terror victims, and the families of fallen soldiers
3.Trauma Relief and PsychoSocial Care $100,000
- Israel Trauma Coalition – providing trauma treatment for victims as well as training for additional trauma clinicians across Israel
- NATAL Trauma and Resiliency Center – providing resiliency-building programs to people suffering from war-and -terror-related trauma
- Tene Briut – providing mental health services and emotional support in Amharic for Israel’s Ethiopian population
4. Emergency Medical Services and Healthcare $100,000
- Ziv Medical Center - Regional Trauma Center for Northern Israel, Urgent Care in Kiryat Shmona
- Sheba Hospital Tel Hashomer – primary rehab facility for wounded soldiers
- Soroka Medical Center - in Be’er Sheva, close to Gaza border
- Zaka - provides specialized search and rescue units. Also retrieval of body parts at casualty sites to ensure proper Jewish burial of victims
Thanks to your generosity $500,000 will be sent to Israel this week according to the allocations above.
Israel's humanitarian crises will continue throughout the war and well beyond it. The trauma our Israeli "family" has and will sustain is ongoing and severe. You can help UJF support these ongoing needs by designating your UJF Annual Campaign gift to Israel or by donating to our Israel Emergency Fund.
כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה
All of Israel is responsible for one another.
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