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Greetings!
Greetings from Jerusalem!
As I drive around this amazing city on a daily basis and see the Old City walls bathed in golden sunshine and the palm and cypress trees swaying lazily in the breeze, I nearly forget that this serene picture of antiquity belies what is really going on in this country.
Reality check: since the recent war with Hamas ended, there have been two terrorist attacks (another bulldozer incident and the killing of two police officers in the Jordan Valley), rockets continue to fall on the South, Iran is racing to get their nuclear weapon together, and a huge terrorist attack was just thwarted (which can only be seen as a miracle) in the parking garage of a Haifa mall.
Furthermore, unemployment is on the rise here (as well as all over the globe), and education and social welfare budgets are getting slashed, not only because of the economy, but because money that would ordinarily be going to these programs is being diverted to the defense budget.
These realities have MBKI on "war-footing." We are ready (with G-d's help and direction) to respond to needs as they arise - this being above and beyond our regular program services.
Here is a little bit of what we have been up to... |
| SDEROT CONNECTIONS |
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Ever since the war with Hamas and the work we were able to do with the residents of Sderot, Dov has continued to cultivate the relationships that were forged during that difficult time. He has kept in contact with Sderot's youth and family services provider, a Yemenite kindergarten (that is located in a border farming village), and, of course, the border police company in the South.
We are currently in the process of negotiating sponsoring the kindergarten and in the meantime have purchased a hoard of school and craft supplies that we will deliver to the school in early April.
Dov and a buddy of his from the San Diego PD recently delivered 35 San Diego Padres backpacks to this kindergarten. That's Phil (below) with the kindergarten teachers.
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| UNUSUAL OUTREACHES |
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About a week and a half ago, Dov led a team from Boston on two unusual outreaches.
First, they went to the Jerusalem bus station and handed out baked goods. Most of the takers were soldiers traveling home or between bases.
Second, they sparked the grill and cooked up a bunch of burgers and hot dogs in a park in Tel Aviv that happens to be located in the red light district. This park is populated mostly by foreign workers, drug addicts, refugees from Darfur, children and prostitutes. |
| HOT LUNCHES PLEA |
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We are still trying to raise money for this program. As a quick recap: since the schools that we work with do not have cafeterias, hot lunches are catered in to the school 3 days per week (at the expense of the students).
The schools desire to make this program available to all students regardless of their ability to pay and have gone into debt every year to make this happen. However, for the last two years, MBKI Israel has picked up the cost of these hot lunches with the two-fold benefit of: 1. ensuring that needy children will eat at least one healthy, hot meal 3 times per week, and 2: relieving the school of the financial burden of this program.
We have only been able to raise a small portion of the total yearly cost of this program so far and are asking for your help! If you are interested in making a donation, please visit our website: www.mbki.org or send a check with a note indicating "hot lunch program" to our PO Box.
Details: We are covering 80% of the total yearly price of these lunches for 100 students, which comes to about $240 per child (depending on the ever-fluctuating dollar rate). |
| MBK NASHVILLE UPDATE |
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Paul and Shannon Kaszubski have started an in-school tutoring program at their target elementary school. Their volunteers go into the school during school hours and tutor kids in small groups to help them prepare for the upcoming standardized testing.
They also do lunchroom monitoring for an hour everyday, which as Shannon says, "remains an effective and productive method to increase our value in the school and build strong relationships with both teachers and students." | |
If you are interested in supporting the work that we do, you can donate online via our website: www.mbki.org or send a check to PO Box 331293, Nashville, TN 37203
We hope that you have a great month filled with the blessings and favor of the Lord!
Blessings from Zion,
Lyndee Gelman, General Manager
My Brother's Keeper International
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