Afikim’s fundraising campaign to support 500 families

The Afikim Family Enrichment Association has initiated an emergency fundraising campaign to provide families with food security as well as emotional and educational support. Within three weeks, over half a million shekels were raised for 500 Afikim families, from private donors in Israel and around the world. Among the many donors are rabbis, community leaders, businessmen, elderly individuals and Holocaust survivors.

The raised funds were used to purchase food, computers and technological equipment to assist in distance learning. Hundreds of games, sports equipment, books and workbooks, were purchased and are being distributed to children from disadvantaged families.

This week, with the release of the complete lockdown, four Afikim centers re-opened their doors to the children with the understanding that for them, the dangers at home outweigh the risk of the coronavirus.

The centers will operate according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s guidelines, and all measures have been taken to ensure the health of the children and the educational staff. In the coming weeks, the rest of the centers will reopen across the country.

Afikim is a non-profit organization that works to provide tools for at-risk children and to help them escape the cycle of poverty. Since its inception in 2007, Afikim operates 14 centers in disadvantaged neighborhoods across the country. Afikim’s after-school learning centers not only provide supplemental lessons in academic fields such as math, English and computers, but also on Jewish and universal values and cultural enrichment.

Children participating in the program receive a much needed nutritious meal every day and, just as necessary, emotional support. To make a lasting difference in the child’s life, Afikim works with the parents and provides courses and workshops in vocational training, proper financial conduct and successful parenting.