IFCJ founds summer camps for underprivileged kids

Fellowship of Christians and Jews to establish camps in 50 different communities for children from low-income families.

By DANIELLE ZIRI
Children playing at a nursery 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Children playing at a nursery 311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews announced this week that it will establish summer camps in 50 different communities across the country for children from low-income families to enjoy this summer.
The Fellowship, which works to strengthen Israel's society through philanthropic ventures, will be spending some NIS 16 million for the project which is expected to serve some 13,000 children.
According to the organization, the initiative was taken in order to provide working parents who cannot afford to enroll their children in summer break programs with an adapted solution as well as provide underprivileged children with a safe environment to spend their vacation in.
The summer camps activities will include sports, computer training, field trips, visits to amusement parks and Israel studies among other things. The IFCJ also aims at promoting values of community, tolerance, co-existence, leadership through these different activities.
Each child will receive a kit that includes items such as a T-shirt, a hat, a bag, a water bottle and sunscreen. At the end of each camp, a graduation ceremony will be held for participants and their families.
To launch the project, the Fellowship has partnered with Mifalot Education and Society Enterprises, the largest educational youth organization in the country.
A list of eligible children is currently being formulated by the organization in consultation with the welfare departments of each of the participating municipalities, which include Migdal Haemek, Tiberias, Kiryat Ekron, Arad, Dimona, the arab town of Arara, Kfar Kama, Beit Shemesh, Ashdod, Yeruham, Ramle, Netanya, Ashkelon, Sderot, Or Akiva, Or Yehuda among others.
“We believe that every child has the right and ability to realize their potential, regardless of their family's economic situation or living conditions if given the opportunity, support and resources,” President of the Fellowship, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein said in a statement.
“In offering solutions for children during the summer, we also allow parents to provide for their family without having to worry about their child’s safety,” he continued.
Some 10,000 children from Jewish communities and about 3,000 children from the Arab sector are expected to participate in the summer program, which is part of a broader initiative conducted by the IFJC dedicated to helping tens of thousands at risk children and youth in Israel.
Eckstein added that the organization intends to invest some NIS 36 million every year to help tens of thousands of Israeli children and “strengthen and improve the future of Israeli society."