Detroit teens volunteer to fight poverty in Israel
“There are so many people that need help.”
Delegation participants from the Detroit-based Sue & Alan Jay Kaufman Family Teen Mission to Israel help pack boxes of food at the Pitchon Lev aid center on Tuesday, July 10(photo credit: ZIV TOLEDANO)ByROCKY BAIERUpdated: High school student Jamie Trepeck never realized the scope of poverty in Israel until she joined the effort to fight it.“I know that poverty is an issue everywhere, but I didn’t understand to what extent it was here,” Trepeck said. “There are so many people that need help.”Trepeck volunteered at Pitchon Lev, a Rishon Lezion-based nonprofit organization that helps more than 200,000 people annually. It was part of her trip from Detroit, where 120 students spent a month in Israel, experiencing culture, visiting tourist sites and giving back to the country through volunteer work.The Sue and Allen Jay Kaufman Family Teen Mission to Israel is meant to build the connection between students and Israel, and allow students to choose one elective project to further that connection.One of those electives was an intensive volunteering project where delegates recently went to Pitchon Lev. For Trepeck, the experience was shocking.“I was shocked because [poverty in Israel] is not very publicized, but they told us that one in three children are living below the poverty line,” Trepeck said. “It’s crazy to think that a third of kids are living in those conditions. I am happy I could contribute. It takes more than packaging vegetables but it’s a step.”About 25 students from the trip packaged vegetables to be handed out to different families. For Eli Cohen, CEO of Pitchon Lev, volunteer groups like this are amazing, even though people volunteer daily.“I will never be able to say it’s an everyday thing,” Cohen said.“[People in need] are so proud and extremely touched and moved that someone from – geographically speaking – the other side of the world [helped them]. That is always very touching and very moving and that will always be something special.”Pitchon Lev gives out food parcels, clothes, medical aid, legal advice and anything else a family needs. It also focuses on breaking the cycle of poverty by educating children, and tries to get the government to enact legislation to handle poverty.“I think non-profits can handle local issues,” Cohen said. “They can’t change it at a national level. [The government needs] to step up and do what is right. If you take 15 years ago, the only issue on the table was the conflict and military issues. But we can see in the last elections that the social issue was a very big issue. I pray that the social issues will be bigger and bigger at the political level.”Statistically, if nothing is done about the poverty rate, over 50 percent of the population will be living below the poverty line in 20 to 30 years, according to Cohen. Currently, 1.8 million people live in poverty in Israel.For Rabbi Jen Lader, one of the leaders of the Teen Mission to Israel, this was a great way to connect youth to the world.“I believe strongly that teens are looking for connection,” Lader said.“They are in this world where they are so focused on social media, more isolated than they ever have been before. This breaks them out of that cycle of isolation. And teens love helping other people.”See more onisrael poverty|Israel United States Relations|poverty rate in israelRECOMMENDED STORIESIDF identifies missiles from Iran, sirens sound across IsraelJUNE 15, 2025Israel's airspace closed: How to enter, leave the Jewish state during Iran escalationsJUNE 15, 2025Iran reaches out to Qatar, Oman in attempt to broker ceasefire with US, IsraelJUNE 15, 2025Starlink operating in Iran, Elon Musk says, as Islamic regime shuts internet downJUNE 14, 2025Hot OpinionIsrael acted - now it's time for the Iranian people to riseByJPOST EDITORIALNetanyahu achieved his life's work by stopping a nuclear Iran, now it's time to resignByDAVID BRINNSitting in a quiet, destroyed neighborhood: At the heart of Iran's missile attack on Bat YamBySETH J. FRANTZMANIsrael had a window of opportunity to attack Iran and it was right to use it -ByYAAKOV KATZ