JDC Supporters Join Together To Create Impact Network

Several years ago, Jon Deaner traveled to Argentina on a UJA-Federation of New York-led mission with other young professionals to learn about Jewish life and tradition. Among the most moving experiences he had was his visit to a JDC day care program called Baby Help where he met young children living in poverty.

Jon Deaner poses for a photo with children in Argentina.

A photographer, Jon captured his visit in beautiful pictures. But as his initial connections to the children faded with the passage of time, it was that tangible feeling of being involved and making a difference Jon sought to replicate in a brand-new initiative at JDC. 

At about the same time, Doron Goldstein -- the son of JDC Board Member Yoine Goldstein and one of the founders of Entwine, JDC’s young Jewish leadership platform -- was looking to transition from Entwine but remain actively involved with JDC.

Doron grew up traveling all over the world, meeting Jewish leaders from different communities and witnessing firsthand the lifesaving work of JDC.  He understood the only way to be an instrumental player in JDC’s work was to engage head-on with program directors and content. 

Together, Jon and Doron founded the first donor group under JDC Ambassadors. At a membership level of $2,500, the Impact Network model provides access to JDC Ambassadors events and engagement. Group members focus on a particular issue under JDC’s purview and then commit to raising funds for a project they believe in.

All of this comes as no surprise in 2013. Jewish philanthropy research shows new donors are excited to be involved in charitable causes. Many serve on non-profit boards, encourage friends to give and donate online; and once they are hooked, they want to go “all in.” 

“They want to develop close relationships with the organizations or causes they support; they want to listen and offer their own professional or personal talents, all in order to solve problems together with those whom they support,” the research sats. Jon and Doron’s desire to “be information-driven, impact-focused, proactive, and peer-oriented” spoke to all members of the Child Intervention Impact Network.

Under Jon and Doron’s leadership, the group chose to learn about JDC’s involvement in early childhood programming and voted to support JDC’s Baby Help in Argentina. They met over Argentine wine and discussed Argentine history and politics; they learned about Baby Help from the director, Viviana Bendersky; they asked early childhood experts based in New York about the most up-to-date practices. They plan to support Baby Help concretely by purchasing vaccines and meals, raising awareness and communicating new trends in care. The bottom line: They are strategic philanthropists.

Following this idea, other groups have formed using the Impact Network model focusing in an issue of their choice. JDC is looking forward to engaging individuals more directly and giving donors the opportunity to be hands-on involved. To learn more about or join JDC Impact Networks, visit: http://www.jdc.org/impact. 

This blog post features information from pages 11-16 from the report Next Gen Donors: The Future of Jewish Giving.

Jewish Renewal in Kazakhstan

Hesed Center with young Kazakh Jews.

by Dov Ben-Shimon

"Yulia" -- dressed in orange

I've just spent the last week in Turkey and Kazakhstan on a JDC Strategic Partnerships/Ambassadors Circle mission and wanted to share something that made a deep impression on me.

At dinner the other night in Almaty, Kazakhstan, I sat with two young leaders of the Jewish community. Michael  and his wife Yelena are very involved with the Almaty community. He is a building contractor and she is a graphic designer. They're both in their early forties and they both volunteer in the Hesed, our federation-supported welfare center. In Almaty the Hesed also functions as a JCC, and they sit on the Board.

Here's the story: Michael grew up knowing he was Jewish. It wasn't a particularly significant part of his life. His mother actually listed their nationality as "Ukrainian" rather than "Jewish" on their internal Soviet passports. She had lived through nasty anti-Semitic attacks in Ukraine before the family moved to Kazakhstan, which has a low level of anti-Semitism. When Michael and Yelena married, religion wasn't really an important topic for either of them, and in a country in which there are high levels of intermarriage, he thought nothing of marrying a nice non-Jewish girl like Yelena.

Argentina Expedition, RESCHEDULED for 2013

JDC Ambassadors Argentina Expedition
NOW RESCHEDULED -- March 10-13, 2013

Home to Latin America’s largest Jewish population, Argentina has been a prosperous country for much of its history. The country and its Jewish community were catapulted into economic turmoil during the 2001 economic crisis and resulting devaluation of the Argentine peso. Middle class families in particular bore the brunt of the collapse, and many Jewish families found themselves turned into “the new poor” virtually overnight.

This visit will offer an unprecedented opportunity to meet an important Jewish community in recovery. JDC’s work has focused on helping the most vulnerable Jews in Argentina and supporting the community’s ability to rebuild itself in a sustainable way. Throughout the trip, we’ll meet the wonderful people who are working with JDC to help children and elderly and to ensure the vibrancy of Jewish life and community.

We’ll also see the sites of Argentina, enjoy an evening of tango, and get the inside story of a world-class city that has undergone more than its share of instability in recent decades.

For more information and costs, contact Rebecca at rebeccan@jdcny.org or (212) 885-0878

JDC Ambassadors travel opportunities allow you to see the inside story of how Jews and others live in key cities around the world. Travel is open to JDC Ambassadors, members of our Ambassador Circle and Society, and select guests.

Bringing a Sweet New Year to Families in the Crimea

With their local Hesed now a second home,
Vika, her sister, and her mom know they won’t
be alone this Rosh Hashanah.
Photo:  JDC Website

Six-year-old Vika, her sister Vera, 11, and her mom, Olga celebrated their very first Rosh Hashanah last year.

Since then, they’ve come to call the Jewish community in Feodosiya, their native town in the Crimea, a second home. For this single-parent family, Jewish life has become a much-needed anchor in their otherwise tumultuous existence. This year they couldn’t be more excited to visit their localHesed social welfare center for communal festivities and honey cake.

Olga grew up under communism, when religious practices were outlawed and Jewish life was hushed for decades. She never learned any Jewish history or traditions in her home as a child; when she became a mom, she had none to pass on to her daughters.

Camping in Belarus Brings Families to Jewish Community

This summer Pavel will be among thousands 

of Jews participating in JDC-supported day 

camps, family retreats, and intergenerational 

Shabbatons taking place throughout the 

former Soviet Union.

Mirroring a common reaction among fellow Jewish 10-year-olds in Minsk, Belarus, Pavel’s eyes light up with excitement at the mere mention of “Shemesh” Camp at his local Jewish Community Center (JCC). That’s because Pavel can’t wait to join his friends for a 10-day session of fun and Jewish learning that will include trips to parks, museums, movies, and other attractions around Minsk.

With hundreds of kids and families attending the Minsk JCC annual summer program, Jewish camping has become the new “in vogue” thing to do in the Belarusian capital.

For the past 20 years, JDC has exponentially expanded opportunities for Jews in Belarus and across the former Soviet Union (FSU) to connect with their local communities. In the process, Jewish camping has become a premier outreach activity, bringing together kids and families eager to take a holiday with rich Jewish content and offering a gateway into Jewish life year-round at Minsk’s JCC Emunah.

Baby Help in Argentina Goes Intergenerational

Watch this video to learn about the JDC-established Baby Help program, a social and emotional haven for Argentina’s youngest Jews.

"Mora" (teacher) Rosana Jacofsky, a long-time teacher at JDC's Baby Help program in Buenos Aires, Argentina dedicates the majority of her time to children with physical and psychological difficulties at the day care. "We are constantly reminded that love can break through any barrier," she says.

Watching her students interacting with the elderly residents of the LeDor VaDor senior complex, Rosana revels in the value, for all ages, of this intergenerational exchange. "I wish that every child would have a chance to experience something like this."

Inside Ukraine, a Jewish Teen's Inspiring Journey

A Day in the Life of Katya...

Family Retreats Offer a Helping Hand to Special Needs Kids and Their Parents

Integration camps for families with children with
special needs provide tailored services and care
and offer a welcoming community and entry point into
Jewish life.
Photo: JDC Website

For Vladimir and Irina, everyday parenting is a struggle. Both of their young children suffer from debilitating illnesses: Nikita, 8, has cerebral paralysis; his legs do not work, so he can’t move without his parents’ help and his speech is also severely impaired. Ellina is five, and soon after she was born her parents learned that she had encephalopathy (brain disease/disorder) and would require ongoing medical attention throughout her life.

The difficulty of meeting their children’s special needs is confounded by the pressures of making ends meet on the family’s meager $200 monthly income. The children require regular doctors’ visits, treatments, medications, and nutritious food—but the household utilities alone cost over $100 per month.

Strained, isolated, and overwhelmed, Vladimir and Irina have no public resources to turn to for help—which is why JDC’s assistance is so critical. They receive food and medicines, diapers, clothes, and household supplies to help them meet their basic needs. They rely on special packages of food and Jewish items in order to celebrate the holidays. But the family has found its greatest assistance in the community and support that embraced them at this year’s JDC Family Integration Camp just outside their hometown of Kishinev, Moldova.

“Other families with kids with special needs can understand the hardships, pain, and fears that go along with raising children with disabilities and help us feel less alone,” Irina says.

JDC supports family camping programs throughout Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Over 5500 people will participate in intergenerational camps, Shabbatons, and retreats throughout the region this year. Integrated family camps are unique as they are staffed by specially trained madrichim as well as psychologists, medical doctors, and specialists for children with special needs. They provide an environment where parents and children alike can receive tailored assistance and take part in sensitive programming designed to make the most of their children’s abilities and talents.

Families take part in Jewish activities (like decorating hamsas, kippot, and Shabbat candles), and everyone comes together as one big family to celebrate Shabbat and then to sing Havdalah songs as Shabbat draws to a close. For many, these programs offer the only chance to connect with other families in the disability community and to find an entry point into Jewish life.

This is just what happened to the Shoob family: Eugene, 50, is a single father to Lubov, his ten-year-old daughter who suffers from cerebral spastic infantile paralysis. They didn’t think other families would understand their trying circumstances so they’d never taken part in community activities until last year, when when they participated in the family camp in Minsk, Belarus.

“The days we spent at the Jewish family retreat were unforgettable,” Eugene reflects. “Initially, I went for the sake of my daughter but I learned so much myself. Lubov found new friends at camp and came back proud to be part of the Jewish people. I’d thought it was hardly possible to find like-minded people at my age but found out just how wrong I was.”

Today Eugene and Lubov take part in their local family club and the Mishpacha (Family) theatre program, and attend all of the community’s holidays, concerts, festivals, and activities. They’ve started going to synagogue and Lubov now attends the JDC-supported Minsk Jewish Community Center programs where she plays, dances, and has made many friends. Eugene is very grateful for his newfound community and cannot wait to for this year’s retreat.

“I have always known my family is Jewish,” he said. “But now I know what that means and what a joy it can be.”

Bringing Holiday Sweetness to a Special Needs Boy in Zaporozhye



“I am really touched and surprised that in such hard times
there are people who are still ready to help,” says Vadim’s
mother, Nataliya, who relies on JDC’s monthly food
allowance to feed her family.

Five-year-old Vadim received a delicious surprise this Rosh Hashanah. His family, who normally subsists on whatever staples they can cover using their monthly JDC food allowance, got a special holiday package last month that included challah, honey, pomegranate juice, and sweets—likely the only ones Vadim will taste all year.

Single-mom Nataliya, 31, supports Vadim and his two-year-old brother Matvey on approximately $200 a month, which in Zaporozhye, Ukraine is barely enough to keep a roof over their heads. The family shares a room in an apartment that has no working bathroom or kitchen. Nataliya’s older brother and his family live in the main room, and her younger brother sleeps where the kitchen used to be.

As much as Nataliya would like to improve the family’s situation, every effort she makes is hampered by Vadim, who was born with congenital cerebral palsy. He is unable to walk or function independently, and fully relies on Nataliya, just like his toddler brother. Desperate for help, Nataliya turns to the Jewish community and depends on JDC—the only source of support in a country with few social safety nets for even its most helpless people.

Since Nataliya only gets occasional work as a sales clerk, the family mostly survives on what they receive from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ)-JDC Partnership for Children in the Former Soviet Union through the local Jewish Family Services (JFS). Vadim is one of the 30,000 children whose families depend on critical assistance such as a monthly food package, medication, clothing, and toys that the boys share.

At the same time, JDC provides special care for Vadim’s physical needs, supplying him with rehabilitation equipment to strengthen his limbs through the Tikva program for children with disabilities, supported by World Jewish Relief.

But Vadim’s cerebral palsy requires more targeted intervention to improve his mobility. Nataliya has been trying hopelessly to save up enough money to get him special massage treatment. Much to her surprise, the JFS, Tikva professionals, and some local volunteers organized an ongoing fundraiser to accompany each big event at their Jewish Community Center in order to raise money for Vadim’s massage course. When Natalia heard about the success of the first fundraiser, she was overjoyed.

“I am really touched and surprised that in such hard times there are people who are still ready to help.”

Community Gives Hungry Brothers in Tashkent Aid and Hope

Andrey and Artom battle hunger daily, but they
“look forward to the holidays when the food package
we receive from the Jewish community for Rosh
Hashanah arrives. It’s the only time all year we
eat dates and cookies.”
Photo:  JDC Website

For many children, chewing gum is a common, sweet treat. For the Samaras boys, Andrey, 11, and Artyom, 9, it’s what fastens sheets of plastic to their window to protect them from Tashkent’s howling winter winds or 110 degree heatwave temperatures.

They live on the edge of town, at the end of a long dirt road where wild donkeys, geese, and mule carts drawn by elderly women dodge gaping potholes and large rocks. Andrey and Artyom share a two-room shack with their mother, Lyudmila, a recovering alcoholic. The boys’ stepfather occasionally stops by unannounced; when he’s in a good mood, he leaves a few hundred Uzbeks—less than 20 cents—for food.

The foundation of the Samaras’ mud and straw hut is eroding; the walls are crumbling and in complete decay. The makeshift roof is held on by rocks, bricks, and plastic. There is no electricity or running water.

“We’re too busy taking care of the daily chores and trying to stay alive to think about doing kid stuff,” says Artyom. “We never notice that we don’t have a television, a bathroom, an outhouse, a refrigerator, heat, or enough food in the cupboard.”

The only help these brothers have in the world comes from JDC’s partnership with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ). The Samaras family relies on the supermarket food card from the IFCJ-JDC Partnership for Children in the Former Soviet Union to purchase groceries each month and is provided otherwise unaffordable basic necessities—sets of toiletries, sheets, school uniforms and supplies. The free medical consultations made possible by the Partnership are especially critical for Artyom, a 4th-grader who is battling failing eyesight, abdominal pains from a developmental defect, as well as an anxiety disorder.

Though the family’s most immediate challenge is surviving day to day, the IFCJ-JDC Partnership also ensures through JDC’s Jewish Family Service model of case management that the Samaras receive assistance that goes beyond the material and engages them in local Jewish activities. The boys’ haven 15 kilometers from home is the JDC supported Tashkent Jewish Community Center, where Andrey and Artyom visit for help with their homework, to celebrate Jewish holidays, and to participate with their mom in Jewish family retreats—a rare opportunity for them to learn and share Jewish experiences with other families.

A visit to Odessa & Beit Grand

Alan Gill, Executive Director, International Relations at JDC, recently spent a day in the field in Odessa and shared his experience on 'Global Impact', THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore's overseas blog. 

Read about Alan's day in the field at A Visit to Odessa and Beit Grand.

Coming of Age: Hesed Helps Three Generations in Ukraine

Boris learns to play the recorder at Beitenu
social service center in Zhitomir, Ukraine.

Boris D. has not yet reached his bar mitzvah, but he has faced hardship that belies his age.

He and his mom Inna live in Zhitomir, Ukraine, in a 12 sq meter room in an overcrowded, rundown high-rise tenement building where they share their utilities with eight other families. Inna supports them on her nurse’s salary (only $160/month) from the city children’s hospital, where she often works extra long hours to bring home a little more money. When food prices soar and inflation doesn’t allow her to stretch her salary any further, Inna turns to JDC’s local Hesed social welfare center to get Boris clothing, shoes, and medications. He is one of more than 30,000 children who receive this and other critical support through the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ)-JDC Partnership for Children in the Former Soviet Union.

Boris has been coming to the Hesed since he was a baby when his mother joined the center's family club. His mom later enrolled him in the JDC-supported Beitenu program which, in addition to supplementing his food, medical, and clothing, helped care for his and his mom's emotional needs as they struggled to make a life for themselves on minimal income. Boris attended after-school activities where he received professional counseling and help with his studies, and participated in Jewish educational activities. Though he doesn’t connect to any of his neighbors or family members, Boris breaks out of his shell at Beitenu. “I love my computer class. I find refuge there,” he says.

Growing up in the reviving Jewish community in Zhitomir, Boris feels he has a bigger family to care for him. This feeling is reinforced by his grandmother, Beshiva, who has taught him that he is part of the Jewish people.

Beshiva is the family matriarch and attends the elderly day care center program at the same Hesed. Struggling to survive on a meager pension of barely $100 per month, Beshiva turns to the Hesed to avoid having to make the tough choice between buying food and medicine. Not only can she get medication and special winter relief here, she also regularly receives a JDC food card that she can use to purchase groceries at her local supermarket.

Beshiva teaches Boris about Jewish traditions and the importance of doing mitzvot (good deeds) and performing acts of Hesed (acts of loving kindness), which are all reinforced by his experiences at the Jewish community hub where he has found a second home. There Boris has even begun to perform in Jewish plays and show signs of leadership and becoming a young man.

“Thanks to Hesed, we know we will survive!” says Boris's mom. She is hopeful that despite the family's ongoing challenges, her son has the support and guidance to truly become a bar mitzvah.

Argentina's Baby Help Brings Judaism and Joy to Community's Youngest

Joining Jews around the world in the Passover seder countdown, many struggling young families in Argentina are gearing up for their annual “Baby Pesach” celebration at the JDC-supported Baby Help center in Buenos Aires.

For young Jewish families in Argentina, Baby Help is a household name.

Launched by JDC and the local Jewish community to help struggling pregnant mothers and toddlers plunged into poverty in the wake of Argentina’s 2001-2 economic collapse, today Baby Help continues to be an important source of support for the country’s most vulnerable children.

In addition to providing for basic necessities such as food, milk, vitamins, vaccinations, and diapers, the Baby Help center in Buenos Aires offers critical day care services so that parents can find and maintain jobs, and welcomes dozens of young families for spirited celebrations of Shabbat and Jewish holidays throughout the year.

Berlin's Bambinim Families Go Green for Tu B'Shvat

Young Jewish children and parents in Berlin took

part in a Tu B'Shvat seder celebrating a

"New Year for trees."

Photo:  JDC Website

In the year since the Bendini family first came to JDC’s Bambinim early childhood education program in Berlin, it’s become hard to tell who’s been enjoying the club’s activities more, five-year-old Marc or his parents?

Bambinim’s recent Tu B'Shvat seder, an Arbor Day-type event celebrating the “Jewish New Year for Trees,” was typical. Like all Bambinim activities, the seder was an open and inviting event reflecting the diverse backgrounds of Berlin’s multicultural and multilingual Jewish families. Most educational and cultural courses combine the use of German, Russian, English, and Hebrew.

Marc’s parents, who are Italian and Canadian (and speak Italian, English, and German with Marc, who was born in Germany), are drawn to Bambinim events precisely because they are innovative and culturally rich. That says a lot in a city as cosmopolitan as Berlin, where there is a surfeit of quality artistic and cultural events—even for children—and the competition for audiences is stiff.

Bambinim events “are THE place to be for Jewish children's activities in an open, pluralistic setting,” said Marc’s father. “My wife and I enjoy bringing Marc to these activities, and we look forward to participating ourselves.”

The past month’s Tu B’Shvat seder was no exception. Parents helped their children paint their own flower pots before the seder began, so they would be ready to take home later as a reminder of the holiday.

A Jewish story alluding to nature’s remarkable healing powers (how a magical pomegranate saves a king’s son) was read in German. And Bambinim staff members spoke about the symbols of seasonal changes, including the trees and foliage.

Participants were given different mixes of grape juice (instead of wine) to see if they could taste this change in seasons, and they were asked to identify fruits characteristic of the different parts of the year in a playful variation of “show and tell.”

An Israeli intern who works at Bambinim helped explain the appropriate blessings for the wine and fruit, and organized the Israeli dances that brought parents and children enthusiastically to their feet between each seder “course”.

Emphasizing the continuity of nature and the ongoing cycle of life, each child got to take home his or her flowerpot—but only after carefully filling it with soil and planting the seeds they would nurture for next year’s Tu B’shvat celebration.

Read a first-hand account of Bambinim’s Tu B’Shvat celebration from JDC Jewish Service Corps Fellows Molly Fried and Sarah Goldenstein, who are working with Jewish families and young adults in Berlin , Germany.

In Time for Chanukah, Sofia Dedicates First Jewish Preschool in More Than 50 Years

Benvenita enjoys a Kosher breakfast at
her new preschool.
Photo: JDC Website

For Shlomo, a 33-year-old father of two from Sofia, Bulgaria, the fact that his daughter Benvenita attends a Jewish preschool is a dream come true. “My wife and I feel it is so important that our child is in a Jewish environment where she receives first-rate care from trained and experienced Jewish teachers,” he said of his two-year-old’s participation in Gan Balagan. A collaborative project of JDC and Shalom, Bulgarian Jewry’s social and cultural organization, Gan Balagan is the city’s first Jewish preschool to open its doors in more than half a century since the “Anna Ventura” school property was confiscated from the Jewish community by the government in 1958. Symbolically, the community is dedicating this children’s haven during Chanukah.

Located in the local Beit Shalom Jewish Community Center and across from a synagogue, the nursery is quickly becoming a haven for Benvenita and more than 20 other children, ages 2-5 years. There they learn basic Hebrew, Jewish traditions, and enjoy Jewish-themed toys and educational tools in a well-equipped, modern facility that includes a spacious area for dancing and role-playing, multimedia equipment, and a piano. The school also provides daily kosher, nutritious meals—two breakfasts and a three-course lunch—which is a compelling benefit rarely offered by the state institutions.

“I haven’t seen a better designed and organized place for children in Sofia,” said Shlomo.

In fact, this newly dedicated preschool helps address an important need in Bulgaria at large, where a shortage of state-run preschools has left some 3,000 children without an early-education framework. Gan Balagan charges the lowest tuition among all of the private preschools and is seeking subsidies for families that cannot afford to cover the full cost on their own.

Photo: JDC website

But for himself and other young Jewish parents in Bulgaria, the essence of this school is how it will inculcate Jewish values in the youngest community members right from the start—an opportunity which he and his cohort coming of age under Communism didn’t have. “My daughter is surrounded by Jewish friends and comes home singing Jewish songs with so much enthusiasm! This is amazing!”

Shlomo didn’t begin to explore Judaism with fervor until the mid-1990s, when he was 18; today he and his wife, Iliana, open their home to more than 20 people for Shabbat, and own the first kosher café in Sofia where they produce kosher challot.

“It makes me feel calm that my child will grow up with a strong Jewish identity and with an excellent premise for her future Jewish education,” said Shlomo, referencing the transition Benvenita could make from this preschool into the community’s Jewish primary and high schools. “Our son was just born last month, but we are very happy that a couple of years from now he will join this Paradise for Jewish kids."

Celebrating Jewish Culture in Slovakia

A new photo slideshow is up at the JDC website featuring Jewish education and renewal programs for children in Slovakia. 

Check out the entire slideshow on the JDC website.

PACT Program In Ashkelon - Three Years of Successful Partnership

The Ashkelon-Baltimore Partnership In Israel recently celebrated the third year of JDC's Parents and Children Together (PACT) program in Ashkelon working to help Ethiopian Israeli children succeed in school.

Read more about the celebration at Focus on Ashkelon.




Video of PACT program and participants in Ashkelon - in Hebrew only


About PACT:
Parents and Children Together (PACT) is a comprehensive initiative addressing Ethiopian-Israeli preschoolers' educational and developmental needs by working to close critical educational and social gaps between Ethiopian-Israeli children under the age of six and their veteran Israeli peers.

By promoting the enrollment of every Ethiopian-Israeli youngster in a preschool framework and providing culturally sensitive support, PACT helps the children acquire the social and cognitive skills that Ethiopian-Israeli parents—raised in a rural, oral-based society—cannot provide.

JDC's partnerships with American and Israeli communities have made PACT a pioneer among efforts aimed at closing immigration-related social gaps.

Nutrition Program Makes Healthy Living a Family Matter

It can be easy to undervalue the importance of balanced nutrition in shaping the journey from infancy to adulthood. Lial, age 35 from Nazareth, suffered a painful childhood in a broken home without a mother. Married at 19, it wasn’t long before she realized the heavy physical and emotional price she would have to pay as an adult for her own parents’ absence and neglect during her formative years.

“In my youth, I was severely anorexic,” Lial confessed in a recent interview. “I starved myself completely and reached a weight of 65 pounds. My anorexia led to fertility problems which—combined with the fact that I didn’t know how to cook, as I never had a mother to teach me—eventually led to my divorce and left me alone in this world.”

Lial eventually became a single mother, and she was determined from the start to provide her daughter with a better, healthier childhood than the one she experienced. “After my daughter was born, I didn’t want her to be scared of food like I was. But since I couldn’t cook, all I could do was buy her hot dogs and lots of fattening foods—things I couldn’t bring myself to eat.”

Lial and her daughter are not alone. Many of Israel’s 350,000 at-risk children are vulnerable to eating disorders, malnutrition, obesity, diabetes, tooth decay, and various nutrition-related diseases, largely because those in charge of their care lack the means and knowledge to instill good eating habits. Healthy living programs are limited in schools due to insufficient funding, which further compounds the problem and challenges children’s long-term development.

With the help of the JDC-supported Nutrition Enrichment and Healthy Living Program, parents like Lial can now take command of their family’s choices around nutrition.

Update from Jerusalem: Israel's Children

Update from Arnon Mantver, Director of JDC-Israel


Shalom all,

Young Adults for themselves and their Communities
I know you are aware that we are extremely concerned about the deep budget cuts at JDC and the effect these cuts are having on JDC's unique position as an R&D organization for social issues in Israel. This week an event occurred that was so uplifting as to temporarily wipe these concerns from my mind. The second annual Conference of Young Adults in Israel was attended by thousands of Israeli young men and women – the vast majority of them from among the 250,000 who are immigrants or children of immigrant parents. A major portion of these young adults are members of the network of 30 Centers which were established and supported by JDC as a means to helping immigrants access higher education, get jobs and integrate into Israeli society. These young people are truly the next generation of leadership in Israel and seeing them advocating for themselves and seeking ways to help others is truly inspirational.

All Children Deserve a Good Start
The newspapers in Israel are full of stories and exposes regarding the situation of foreign workers in the country. The situation is complex, political and hits an emotional nerve. JDC, which zealously guards its non-political status in Israel, is not involved in lobbying or advocacy for this population be we are attempting to assist the children who are innocent victims of their own situation. With assistance from the European Union and the Bader Foundation, we are upgrading the early childhood frameworks located in Tel Aviv which serve the children of foreign workers and asylum seekers. We have also replicated the JDC-developed Gamla program on behalf of this population, using adult volunteers to provide social activities for these children. Meeting the needs of children-at-risk is a top priority for JDC, no matter who their parents may be.

Hebrew Language Hanukkah Guide from Ashalim

JDC-Ashalim, a JDC-Government of Israel partnership for the development of programs and services for children and youth at risk in Israel, has produced a new guide for families called "A Healthy and Safe Hanukkah Holiday". 

Currently available in Hebrew only, the guide includes fire safety tips as well as ways to adapt traditional holiday recipes so that they use less oil. This guide is part of a series that is being produced by Ashalim's Health and Nutrition Enrichment Program to promote healthy living among children and youth at risk and their families. The guide is being distributed to community-based services participating in JDC-Ashalim's city-wide health programs and is available online.

You can download the guide in Hebrew at this LINK. 

To learn  more about Ashalim, please visit their English website at http://eng.ashalim.org.il/ or in Hebrew at http://www.ashalim.org.il/.