As of December 8, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia has raised $13.8+ million in pledges for urgent humanitarian needs. 100% of the donations are going to support Israel.
We have already distributed $6+ million to help Netivot and Sdot Negev residents and other communities with basic needs, emergency equipment for volunteer first responders, bomb shelters, supplies for the bomb shelters, and more.
Sdot Negev and Netivot are the Jewish Federation’s partnership regions, where we have been working with people on the ground in this area for 23 years. They border Gaza, which is the epicenter of the conflict, and have been hotspots of an onslaught of terror.
Our Israel and Emergency Response Committee teams are working to vet all requests we receive, coordinating with national efforts, to fulfill immediate response and long-term rebuilding needs.
Israel needs our support more than ever. Please consider giving to our Philly Stands With Israel Emergency Fund and stand with the people of Israel and Jews worldwide.
Philly Stands with Israel Emergency Funds To DAte
Current needs in Israel include emergency response and basic needs assistance, security infrastructure supplies and refurbishment, and psychological and resilience support for Israelis. Here is a list of our updated allocations sent since opening our Philly Stands with Israel emergency campaign.
Southern Israel
Ayalim Association in Ashalim promotes the values of Zionism, Jewish identity, and young entrepreneurship in the Negev and Galilee regions. It runs 11 student and entrepreneur villages in these regions. In addition to the 600 students they normally house, they are now housing displaced Israelis from the targeted regions. This donation goes to support basic needs like food for the displaced Israelis living at the Ashalim facility.
Leket Israel, the National Food Bank in Sdot Negev, is the leading food rescue organization in Israel. Our emergency donations have gone to:
- Formula for babies – 500 infants for 2 months
- Support for farmers who are unable to work. $620 stipend for 100 families of farmers for 2 months
Alumim is a kibbutz located in the northwestern Negev desert in southern Israel, near the Gaza Strip. It falls under the jurisdiction of Sdot Negev Regional Council. This donation is for basic and educational needs.
K’far Aza is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located between Netivot and Sderot, around 3 miles east of Gaza, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council. This donation is for basic needs, rehabilitation and educational needs.
Sa’ad is a religious kibbutz in the Negev desert in southern Israel. Located near the Gaza Strip, and the cities of Sderot and Netivot, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sdot Negev Regional Council. This donation is for basic and educational needs.
Rahat is a predominantly Arab Bedouin city in the Southern District of Israel. This grant is for 75 computers for children in the area to be able to be online in school. Our donation to the Rahat Community Center extends a deep partnership with this community.
We have previously funded a project for Bedouin women, a walking path lighted to allow women to walk safely, and a project that turned a parking lot in front of one of their youth centers into a playground to prevent cars from hitting the kids in car accidents. Additionally, college students from Rahat participate in Tozeret Haaretz, a program funded through our annual community campaign.
Netivot is a city in the Southern District of Israel located between Be’er Sheva and Gaza. Netivot was a targeted city in the October 7th attacks and has been a Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia partner city for over 23 years. Please learn more about our partnership here. Our emergency allocations have gone to:
- Basic needs, supplies for bomb shelters, equipment for volunteer first responders
- 1 Emergency generator
- Air conditioners for bomb shelters
- Activity kits for 1,500 children in bomb shelters
- Emergency lighting
- 2 Large Emergency Portable Bomb Shelters
- Food for 750 additional families for two months
Sdot Negev Regional Council is a regional council in the northwestern Negev desert in the Southern District of Israel. Sdot Negev was a targeted city in the October 7 attacks and has been a Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia partner city for over 23 years. Please learn more about our partnership here.
Our emergency allocations have gone to:
- Basic needs, supplies for bomb shelters, equipment for volunteer first responders
- 35 Air conditioners for new protected spaces for educational institutions and communities
- 32 Small emergency generators
- 20 Emergency portable bomb shelters
- Educational materials for kindergartens for Kibbutz Sa’ad
- Educational Needs for for kindergartens for Kibbutz Alumim
The Lone Soldier Center in Be’er Sheva assists IDF soldiers with no family in Israel before, during and after their army service. This donation goes to expanding housing to accommodate IDF reservists and provide food and mental health support.
NFL was founded by academic, governmental and philanthropic bodies. As a community-based innovative lab, NFL develops solutions in the fields of food, eating, dining and catering. Using research and practical knowledge, NFL’s vision is to improve the health of communities in the Negev, considering the food system and local economy. This donation goes towards three kitchen trucks to enable families and teens to cook as individual family units – using cooking as therapy, a way for families to process trauma and provide a small sense of normalcy during their continued displacement.
Orr Shalom is a non-profit organization in Be’er Sheva that cares for children and youth at-risk. Donations are going towards psycho-social support in the family group homes, as well as relocation and safe transportation for graduate students evacuating.
The Unistream Entrepreneurship Center in Netivot was founded in 2008, making it one of the earliest Unistream Centers to be established, and serving as an inspiring anchor of transformative and innovative education for teens from this lower socioeconomic community.
Since the war, Unistream adjusted its programmatic efforts to offer the teens activities that would be both a source of inspiration and assist them in stabilizing their lives through productive routine. Unistream educators have engaged the Netivot teens, who have been through unspeakable trauma and dislocation, providing them with opportunities to regain a sense of normalcy, community, and even have fun.
Among the activities proposed for this initial transition period are the following:
- Two additional days of Amazon-type experiential learning pertaining to entrepreneurship and innovation
- Opportunities to build resilience and empowerment by giving back to the community and country through volunteering
- Two days of fun and respite to relax and find enjoyment in a time of tragedy
- Preparing the Netivot Entrepreneurship Center for re-occupancy and the resumption of on-site activities (the Center has been used as a staging facility by Israeli security forces)
Northern Israel
The 188th “Barak” (Lightning) Armored Brigade is an Israeli armored brigade, subordinate to Israel’s Northern Regional Command. As temperatures drop, this donation goes towards equipping 1000 units with winter gear.
Jewish Federations of North America are pooling funds to rehab, reopen and create medical centers to respond to the current crisis. This donation is a portion of funding needed for medical centers in Israel.
National
ALL4ISRAEL helps support Israel and its needy citizens. It has two major functions: providing emergency help to families and helping the seriously injured with medical assistance. This donation goes towards their emergency relief efforts.
Magen David Adom (MDA) is a non-government agency in Israel responsible for providing disaster relief, ambulance, and blood services. MDA is Israel’s official representative to the International Red Cross. This donation goes to support emergency response efforts.
JDC is a leading global Jewish humanitarian organization. This emergency donation goes towards funding JDC’s established network of social service programs and centers across the country to respond to:
- Life-saving social services for children and youth at risk, the elderly, and people with disabilities
- Economic relief for Israelis in distress and small business owners in the South
- Psychosocial training for frontline responders, including teachers, nurses, social workers, and volunteers
- Homefront volunteerism
- Long-term rehabilitation of Israel’s South
Atidim (Futures) is an initiative that creates and implements innovative educational programs that effectively address socioeconomic disparities, fostering a stronger, more inclusive, prosperous Israel for all. This donation goes towards their emergency student fund that supports emergency efforts in Israel.
Dror Israel was founded by graduates of the Israeli Youth Movement, Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed, who served together in the IDF and shared a belief in the power education has to change society. This donation goes to trauma response support for two weeks for Mitzpei Ramon.
The Emergency Volunteer Project (EVP) is a disaster relief and rescue organization whose primary mission is to deploy volunteer teams to Israel in times of crisis. EVP received emergency funding to deploy 40 American firefighters to Israel.
The Jewish Agency provides the global framework for Aliyah, ensures global Jewish safety, and connects Jews to Israel and one another. This donation goes towards the Jewish Agency’s Victims of Terror fund. Providing immediate, critical financial assistance to victims and their families and long-term recovery and rehabilitative support.
Rachashei Lev, a nonprofit organization in Israel for children with cancer, has launched the ISEME project to acquire and supply life-saving, cutting-edge, essential medical equipment to emergency medical teams in dire need. This donation goes to equipment urgently required as point-of-care medical devices to perform rapid triage and manage multiple casualties effectively
Established in 1948, Sheba Medical Center is the leading medical center in the Middle East and an internationally recognized healthcare facility. This donation goes toward the transfer of intensive care children to emergency-protected areas and other emergency response support.
United Hatzalah’s network of more than 6,500 volunteer medics helps save thousands of lives annually across Israel by providing medical treatment in an average response time of 3 minutes or less. This donation goes towards emergency assistance to IDF and other emergent needs of the crisis.
Yashar LaChayal brings soldiers in the IDF what they need, when they need it. This donation goes towards ceramic vests for soldiers.
ZAKA is Israel’s dominant non-governmental rescue and recovery organization, with over 3,000 volunteers deployed around the country, on call 24/7 to respond to any terror attack, disaster, or accident. This donation goes towards ZAKA’s frontline emergency efforts and safety equipment, medical supplies, and first aid kits.