One-hundred-and-fifty students from BINA: The Jewish Movement for Social Change joined officials from local authorities to operate temporary food and clothing distribution centers. In addition, some of programs participants have found other ways to help communities such as at shelters for abused women, children forcibly removed from their homes and the growing demographic of isolated seniors.
Sophie Reiss who left her family in Georgia, US, to come to Israel described the long hours the students worked for the distribution center project.
"We all volunteered for long hours, sometimes from 10am to 10pm, collecting food, clothes, toys and books that were collected at Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Center and later distributing them to senior residents in the area. It was an amazing feeling," Reiss said.
She added she was worried about leaving her family for such a long time, but things took a positive spin when she landed. "Very shortly after I landed, I felt part of a very special group of people from across the world, whom I’ve never met before," she said.
Some volunteers worked at therapeutic boarding schools, working with teenagers who were taken out of home following a court order.
"Working with these youth, who have no other place to go, is something I’m never going to forget," said Jerusalem native Avia Gal-Cohen.
“My parents were a bit worried at first when I told them I was going to remain at BINA and volunteer while Covid-19 cases kept rising. But I promised them I was looking after myself and now I am really glad I decided to stay," Gal-Cohen, a pre-army draftee said.
However, for pre-army draftee Alona Golenser, the COVID-19 pandemic was the reason she decided to volunteer with BINA.
"Because of the great uncertainty that COVID-19 caused, I decided I’d use this year to do something meaningful instead of wasting it by staying at home," she said.
Recently Golsener has spent her time volunteering with children at shelters for abused women and with children of asylum seekers.
"As a secular Israeli who only celebrated Jewish holidays or Kiddush, I knew I’d be spending the year learning more about secular Judaism and practicing it by volunteering in the community,” she added.
“When we went into the second lockdown and BINA staff told us we can help medical teams by looking after their children, I felt I was doing something really meaningful.”
As coronavirus restrictions continue to ease, the volunteer are expected to continue partaking in food distribution projects.
Yuval Linden, director of BINA Gap Year programs explained that while BINA's programs "always include volunteer opportunities, the unique circumstances people across Israel are experiencing because of the pandemic has led us to join forces with local authorities to provide this much needed support."
“We were so proud to see our youth eager to step up and help the neediest in our society to overcome these very challenging days," she said.