JNF
Emergency Relief Report
Today, Tomorrow
Always with Israel 800.542.8733 • jnf.org
Your Support Made a Real Impact in Israel Letter from the President Thank you for the incredible support you gave the people of Israel during Operation Protective Edge. You are part of a special group who delivered in a time of the greatest need. Inside this report you will see the true impact made by the more than $6 million donated by nearly 24,000 people, donors like yourself who helped deliver the maximum assistance throughout the 50-day conflict and the weeks that followed. Thanks to you we accomplished so much during this emergency campaign. However, JNF was so successful during the conflict because we are not simply an emergency organization. We were there before the war, have been there in the days since, and will be in the years to come. We are Jewish National Fund, the organization that builds a prosperous future for the land and people of Israel. We have a bold and unprecedented vision laid out in the $1 Billion Roadmap for the Next Decade. It is an innovative blueprint for Israel’s future and we have taken on the challenge to make it a reality. Our Blueprint Negev plan has transformed Israel’s Negev Desert and made the Negev the place to be. Similarly, our Go North initiative will provide new economic development opportunities to grow tourism, bolster employment, offer educational and housing options and make Israel’s north a desirable place to both visit and live. Yes, JNF responds to short-term crises and we do it so well. But all the while we are working on long term vision. We are building new communities in the desert, expanding the scope of river rehabilitation and water research, exploring energy production and increasing population in northern Israel, making all parks and playgrounds accessible to people with special needs, bringing thousands of people to Israel every year on missions and trips, and growing future leadership in our teenage community through the Alexander Muss High School in Israel. For over a century Jewish National Fund has built a reputation as a forward-thinking organization that has helped protect the Jewish homeland and transform lives in Israel. As we move forward, the vision we have put into place will help all Israelis live better and more securely, now, and well into the future. Thank you for all you have done and for all you continue to do.
Jeffrey E. Levine President
YOU
raised over
$6,000,000
209
800
PEOPLE a day
BOMB SHELTERS
Enjoyed the safe haven of the Indoor Rec Center
Over
5,000
5 500
Distributed to IDF soldiers Care given to 3,000 lone soldiers
BRAND NEW SAAR FIRE APPARATUS & EQUIPMENT
PEOPLE
Given special care and attention
PACKAGES
150 60
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
Delivered to safety
HISTORICAL Opened for SITES Israelis
Israel Under Attack Israel is the eternal home to the world’s 14 million Jews, 7 million of whom presently live within its borders. At no time was this connection felt more profoundly than during this summer when Operation Protective Edge went into effect. Israel’s pain was our collective pain and when a missile was launched at its citizens from Gaza, apps on thousands of cell phones across the U.S. sounded echoing the sirens of a Code Red Alert. Israel was under attack and so were we. They would not be deterred and neither would we. When the war broke out in early July, JNF immediately went to work internally and with numerous partners in Israel. Thanks to your support we delivered programs, provisions and services for thousands of men, women and children in facilities, shelters and fire stations, and provided trips and field programs to the north for youth and families, people with disabilities, and other residents of the south. “There is nothing more ethical than to help a human being in their greatest time of need and this is even more so for a person who cannot help him or herself.” — Amos Ziv, Founder and director of LOTEM-Making Nature Accessible.
You Answered The Call With a list of emergency needs, we mobilized our resources — lay leaders and staff — to provide the requested aid and relief to communities across Israel. We took to social media channels, the internet, phone conversations, email blasts, conference calls, radio ads, two solidarity missions — you name it — to get the word out so that everyone who wanted to, could play a role in making the lives of our brothers and sisters in Israel a little better, a little safer. And you did. Nearly 24,000 JNF donors have raised more than $6 million and with the activities and items provided helped the people of Israel through very difficult days. The people of Israel felt your support. The people of Israel benefited from your support. The people of Israel thank you.
YOU DELIVERED 24,000 donors raised more than $6 million.
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JNF Emergency Campaign Report – 800.542.8733 • jnf.org
Take a Look at What YOU Achieved Bomb Shelters Provided Physical Security The many people moving to new communities and kibbutzim all along the border with Gaza have been described as 21st Century Zionist pioneers. They are creating new lives in the once barren desert while reinforcing their ties to the Promised Land. Many were evacuated from Gaza in 2005. As they await permanent homes to be built, they live in temporary structures — without safety rooms. Yet they are close enough to be in danger. When the sirens signaled incoming rocket attacks, men, women and children ran, but most had nowhere to escape to. Thanks to the generosity of global donors like you, JNF placed more than 200 fortified bomb shelters in these communities, giving a little peace of mind at a most trying time. The shelters brought people real safety and hold about 10 comfortably.
“A shelter is more than concrete; it’s an emotional Iron Dome that creates a sense of security. We can’t say thank you enough to our JNF friends who stood beside us so quickly and with the shelters they provided brought some peace to our families and children.” — Rabbi Eli Adler, Halutza Resident.
YOU DELIVERED More than 200 bomb shelters were placed in the communities of Merchav Am, Ofakim, Gan Yavne, Sderot, Halutza, Naveh, Bnei Netsarim, Shlomit, Yeroham, Kiryat Gat, Omer, Be’er Sheva and in the Bedouin communities of Rahat, Hura, Segev-Shalom, and Beit Lahia.
Going Forward National security also means having a stable economy and good quality of life for residents and business owners to grow communities. Such planning starts with creating new opportunities. Our vision for a secure Israel includes providing new housing, economic development and jobs to ensure Israelis meet today’s challenges. Housing for families and young people remains one of the biggest issues in Israel. • JNF announced the $25 million housing fund initiative, the most revolutionary in the history of Israel, to provide thousands of people with the opportunity to build their own homes in the Negev and Galilee. • New housing sites are being created in the towns of Yahel, Carmit, Ein Yahav and Nachal Oz, and improvements are being made to housing in Yeruham. • J NF just completed a new park in the Halutza town of Shlomit, complete with large areas of grass, trees, a playground, and sports equipment. Now we are focusing on a new park and playground and a medical and dental center in B’nei Nezarim, a new community playground and garden in Ofakim, a playground and park in Yemin Orde, and a school in Naveh. • W ater supply and infrastructure are being updated, maintained and put into ground to build new areas. Some of our projects include reservoirs and well upgrades and additions in Sapir, Gomeh, Arara and Moshav Tzelafon. • W orking with our partner The OR Movement, JNF is investing in a much-needed day care center in Carmit, a new information center in Be’er Sheva and a community center in Merchav Am. • JNF is helping to develop Project Wadi Attir, a model sustainable desert community.
JNF Emergency Campaign Report – 800.542.8733 • jnf.org
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JNF Indoor Recreation Center — A Safe Place For All For more than 10 years Sderot, a town on the Gaza border, has endured thousands of deadly rocket attacks from Gaza. A whole generation of children do not know a life without Code Red Alerts, without running for safety, without fear. In response to empty streets, devoid of children playing, JNF built the Sderot Indoor Recreation Center in 2009, providing a fortified safe haven, complete with bomb shelters, for hundreds of people daily. The playground gives children a place to play, their parents a sense of calm, and the greater community a place to receive therapy, socialize and relax. With the onset of this summer’s war, your assistance provided respite for 800 people a day from throughout the area as well as for IDF soldiers and people with special needs from other areas in the south. The mayor and all Sderot’s citizens were most appreciative and Israeli superstar David D’Or gave a wonderful concert to a standing room only crowd. For a time, the sound of kids’ laughter was potent medicine to the chaos all around. The Center even made it to prime time TV when it was covered on FOX News. “This center has proven to be our lifeline. I don’t know what we would do with it.” — Alon Davidi, Mayor of Sderot.
YOU DELIVERED
Going Forward Sderot is so much more than a town near the Gaza border. It is home to thousands of families and young people who have put down roots to live and require a good education in order to thrive. Sapir College in Sderot is also attracting students throughout the region. • J NF is now building the largest dormitory for students in the Negev at Sapir College to draw hundreds of young people to the southern area, which will have a huge impact on local economic development. • O ngoing support for the Secure Indoor Recreational Center in Sderot is needed and we are building two new major central parks in Sderot to serve the growing community.
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JNF Emergency Campaign Report – 800.542.8733 • jnf.org
Bolstering Israel’s Firefighters — The Unsung Heroes From the moment the operation began, Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services Southern District switched into emergency mode: dispatch stations were opened in various locations to reduce the response time to events and firefighters from stations in the center and the north were sent to reinforce their colleagues in the south. Firefighters worked around the clock to extinguish fire bursts following rockets falling in open areas and from direct missile hits. In addition they continued to respond to routine events to rescue the injured from car accidents, house fires and everyday emergencies. JNF donors bought five new state-of-the-art Saar fire trucks and tons of necessary firefighting equipment, and arranged for hot meals to be sent to the fire stations.
“You have no idea what it meant for us to know we were thought of during this grueling time.” — Shiko Bar Dov, deputy commissioner of Israel’s Fire and Rescue services.
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YOU DELIVERED
Going Forward It is essential to ensure that Israel’s firefighters are outfitted with the best in equipment and apparatus to accomplish their function. • This year JNF will fund new equipment, trucks, and fire stations. • C ontinued funding of the Fire Scouts program that gives high school students the opportunity to fulfill their community service requirements by volunteering at their local fire stations, instilling in them the value of helping others, shaping them into better citizens and better people.
JNF Emergency Campaign Report – 800.542.8733 • jnf.org
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Caring For People With Special Needs Time spent in shelters is far more of a struggle for people with special needs. Any sudden change in their daily routine can cause them stress and have a major effect on their wellbeing as it affects their mental and physical health in various ways. And getting those in facilities to the safety of a shelter can prove challenging, as many are in wheelchairs or use walkers, and some require oxygen tanks to get around. Thanks to JNF partners Aleh Negev and LOTEM-Making Nature Accessible, time in shelters was made more palatable or not as necessary with trips to the north. At Aleh Negev, new methods of communication had to be used and physiotherapy and entertainment was provided to alleviate the abnormal amount of stress the war brought with it. Numerous caregivers were brought on, gave extra care and worked additional hours. In return they received special attention themselves and a day camp was provided for their children. Aleh Negev suffered several missile attacks; thankfully no one was hurt. “Color Green” activities were launched by LOTEM in response to the requests from special needs facilities in the south to “rescue them” (their words) from the constant rocket fire and Code Red Alerts. Nature outings in the Jerusalem area, at Ammunition Hill and the north were arranged for children and adults with special needs from more than 30 facilities throughout the south including camps, shelters for battered women and Aleh Negev. All this took place despite the fact that six soldier guides were called up by the IDF to join the war efforts in the south. “With the situation in the south so problematic we are required to be next to a shelter all the time and it is very difficult. LOTEM’s day of relief is actually a day of rescue. They simply rescued us from two weeks of rockets and color red alerts. Thank you LOTEM and thank you amazing donors. It’s not often we see something like this. Many thanks and hugs from the depths of the heart.” — Parent of a child with special needs.
YOU DELIVERED
500 PEOPLE
Going Forward • A rehabilitative hospital being built at Aleh Negev will also encourage medical students and those studying assistive medical care to remain in the Negev with the promise of employment. • A second Special Education School Wing at Aleh Negev is under way which will double the school’s capacity and enable another 50-60 children to receive the specialized education that will give them every opportunity for growth and success. Also being built and equipped is a new residential complex to accommodate an additional 48 residents. • A new riding corral at the therapeutic riding center at Kibbutz Grofit.
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JNF Emergency Campaign Report – 800.542.8733 • jnf.org
Caring For Israel’s Defenders — The IDF Soldiers More than 5,000 packages were made for IDF soldiers by members of JNF’s Solidarity Missions. Even passers-by pitched in when JNF set up an assembly line outside the Carlton Hotel in Tel Aviv. Using only items bought from small business owners in Ofakim, it proved a double mitzvah, as many of these shop owners took an economic loss during the war and were very grateful for the unexpected income. Members of the mission also visited with some of the 524 soldiers injured who were in Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva, spent time with Sderot’s families at the Indoor Recreation Center, and spent much-needed money in stores hard-hit because of the war. JNF partner Nefesh B’Nefesh (NBN) cares for their lone soldiers (a serviceman or woman without parents in Israel) like they would their own children. The 3,000 lone soldiers in active service and the 400 stationed in Gaza were on the forefront of their minds and at the center of NBN activities during the war. Tragically, soldiers were killed in action and dozens more were injured. NBN personnel visited hospitals, delivered packages, set up hotlines for them and their parents, flew some parents to Israel, brought social workers to the front lines, gave out emergency loans, and even helped set up shiva homes.
“Things were so intense here. We had staff who mobilized a campaign to bring children’s toys and books, board games, electronics, arts and crafts and food to various shelters throughout the south. We organized cadres of NBN olim who volunteered to drive the goods to the various locations, some having to stop their minivans on the open roads during the sirens. NBN headquarters became the ‘central command’ for those who wanted to help fellow Israelis and olim under fire.” — Rabbi Joshua Fass, Founder, Nefesh B’Nefesh.
YOU DELIVERED
Over
Care given to 3,000 lone soldiers
Going Forward The Israel Defense Forces is among the most courageous and most disciplined in the world, yet these soldiers are merely children themselves. Unlike their American counterparts, whose first experience away from home is often the joy of going to college, Israel high school graduates enter military service fraught with loneliness and fear. • J NF will continue to build comfortable facilities and parks where these young heroes can gather with family and friends on those precious occasions when they can meet. • W orking with Nefesh B’Nefesh JNF will ensure that the lone soldiers and new young olim who enter military service immediately upon arrival are well supported, and never forgotten.
JNF Emergency Campaign Report – 800.542.8733 • jnf.org
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Ensuring The Safety of American Students No American teen who signed up for the summer session at the Alexander Muss High School in Israel expected a summer like this one. More than a few sirens sounded at the Hod Hasharon campus and the 150 high school students quickly learned how to calmly make their way to bomb shelters, refurbished by JNF donors. AMHSI staff was busier than ever reviewing the groups’ itineraries, rebooking other activities, making general and logistical changes accordingly, finding substitutes for counselors who were called up to the reserves, and keeping up-to-date with all that was happening. Daily updates — sometimes even more frequent — were sent to students’ parents, answering questions, providing a sense of calm and control, and informing them of all that happened. The staff on campus, particularly the madrichim (counselors), deans and educators who were on call 24 hours a day, showed a great deal of compassion and sensitivity to the needs of the students. The summer proved transformative and will be a lasting memory for those 150 teens for the rest of their lives. “I want you to know that just receiving updates from you helped so much. this summer in a new way. I was one of those moms who wanted Ben to ‘Please, do not be that mom. I want to stay.’ And he did. A piece of Ben is a different young man. He is wiser and older in so many ways. Thank — Linda Henriquez, AMHSI parent.
I am impressed with AMHSI after come home early. He asked me, was left behind in Israel and he you for taking care of my son.”
YOU DELIVERED #MUSSMAGIC
Going Forward Alexander Muss High School in Israel is answering the needs of today’s high school students. In a recent study, we learned that up to 87% of college applications ask, “Have you had a high school abroad experience?” Colleges and universities are asking the question and we have the answer: We are the best international semester abroad experience. • J NF is growing enrollment at Alexander Muss High School in Israel from 1,500 to 5,000 students over the next five years. • Plans are underway to renovate five dormitories and build a new quad. • T his year, Muss will welcome nearly 200 students from Australia, 20 from Japan, and more from Mexico and Canada. It is indeed the “International High School in Israel.” • Establishing a scholarship fund.
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JNF Emergency Campaign Report – 800.542.8733 • jnf.org
Entertainment, Both In and Out of Bomb Shelters JNF partners Tnuat Tarbut, Hashomer HaChadash, Green Horizons, Western Galilee Now, and Society for Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites (SPIHS) took children and families away from rocket attacks to safer places up north when possible, and when not possible, brought the entertainment to them. SPIHS offered free admission to 60 different historical sites throughout the country, bike rides and time away from missiles. Western Galilee Now provided several days of relaxed touring up north with outings in restaurants, wineries and breweries, along with swimming and picnics. Green Horizons worked with the Bedouin town of Segev Shalom and took kids to an amusement park, and brought in arts and crafts and other activities, and Tnuat Tarbut made the circuit of Gaza border towns bringing hours of fun and smiles to children hunkered down in bomb shelters. “You made my day! It is so important that these kids know somebody cares about them. You don’t understand how it feels to have someone who cares and gives with a full heart.” — Kinneret Bargil, head of the education department in the Bedouin village of Segev Shalom.
YOU DELIVERED • 60 historical sites free to public. • 20,000 children in bomb shelters provided with fun activities. • 2,500 children and their families went north for respite and leisure.
Free to the Public
Going Forward • T his year JNF will continue to provide Israelis of all ages the ability to learn about their ancient and contemporary history through SPIHS. • JNF is developing historical sites in the north, as part of it’s Go North campaign
After the War... Tal Moserri, a star of children’s TV in Israel, entertains 2,000 kids at Neot Kedumim. When Operation Protective Edge concluded on August 26, 2014 we recognized that 100% of the people living in kibbutzim, moshavim and towns on the Gaza border suffered tremendously during the war. Nearly 70% had been evacuated to safer places but many sustained emotional trauma from endless rocket assaults. To help bring a sense of normalcy to those who had endured so much, Jewish National Fund created a day of fun for the kids and their families at Neot Kedumim Biblical Reserve to enjoy various festivities, respite, and the laughter of loved ones—a day for kids to just be kids.
Photo credit: Michal Fattal
More than 2,000 children, including 1,500 from Sderot, enjoyed guided tours around the reserve and performances by local TV stars. To help get the school year back on track, each child received a brand-new backpack. 300 young elementary students enjoyed a similar day at the Indoor Recreation Center in Sderot.
JNF Emergency Campaign Report – 800.542.8733 • jnf.org
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Driven by a deep sense of purpose and responsibility, JNF is undertaking an unprecedented $1 billion campaign over the next decade. JNF will connect American Jews to the people of Israel as never before and implement unique projects to strengthen Israel for the long-term. Inspired by our roots as an organization launched by Theodor Herzl, JNF has developed far beyond blue boxes and tree planting. We are an organization of social entrepreneurs utilizing cutting-edge best practices to operate like a 21st Century business, even as we focus on an ancient homeland. As Israel and the American Jewish community face serious challenges in the decade ahead, we believe the spirit that has sustained JNF for the past 113 years is needed now more than ever. Our Road Map for the Next Decade channels JNF’s values for ground-breaking new ventures with a focus on: connecting the next generation to Israel; community-building in Israel’s periphery: Negev and Galilee; and infrastructure for ecology, special needs, and heritage preservation. Each of these areas is vital to Israel’s future success. When Theodor Herzl wrote his landmark book The Jewish State, he used fiction to inspire millions of Jews around the world to take action. Today, our dreams for the future transcend fiction. We have in our hands the power to shape the future in profound ways. And JNF’s track record over the past 113 years inspires confidence as set out in the newest chapter in JNF’s destiny. We will raise $1 billion and, more importantly, we will create transformative change on the ground and in our communities, both in Israel and here in America. We cannot succeed without you. As we embark on the most ambitious campaign in JNF’s history, we ask that you join us to be a partner, to help make the land and people of Israel the best it can be. We are, JEWISH NATIONAL FUND, YOUR VOICE IN ISRAEL.
jnf.org • 888.542.8733