Keshet Israel Relief Fund

WHAT IS THE KESHET ISRAEL RELIEF PROJECT (KIRF) ?

During the summer of 2006, Israel was at war in the north and near the Gaza Strip. Approximately 2000 rockets and mortars were launched at Israeli cities, towns, villages, kibbutzim and moshavim. The shelling was geared to kill and terrorize our civilian population- Jews and Arabs alike--and over a million Israelis lived in bomb shelters or as refugees in other parts of the country.
Keshet was created to provide inspirational educational programs for our clients, most of whom live in the U.S. or Great Britain. To do so, we have created a superb logistics department that is capable of working simultaneously all over the country. In addition, over the years we have amassed a great deal of experience with the Israeli social welfare system. Given the emergency situation, we put our staff to work on assisting the residents of the Galilee in their time of trial. During the war, we "unleashed" our regular staff to concentrate on a needs assessment and allocate supplies and funds to those in need.

Since the outbreak of the war, we received support from over 300 individuals and institutions and succeeded in raising over $150,000 in the course of less than two months. Through our partnership with Operation Embrace, we were able to provide a non-profit outlet for donors to immediately contribute to our grassroots relief project.

Donations can be sent to:

Attn. Mark Schulman

244 North Avenue

Some of the Projects that Have Received KIRF Funds:

• Shipments of equipment and other materials such as fans, toys, diapers, hot plates, cleaning supplies, art supplies and food required in Acco, Zefat and Kiryat Shemonah.
• Alternative housing for residents of Zefat whom weput up in hotels in Netanya and for whom we provided a staff to operateactivities for the children.
  We housed approximately 150 residents ofZefat in Netanya for over a week, as well as individual families whowere housed in Jerusalem.
• Direct support for the Social Services department in Zefat including the purchase of a computer and assistance in launching a post-trauma
  workshop.
• "Fun Days" for hundreds of Zefat residents that included transportation and admission fees to a water park near Tel Aviv.
  Direct support for the fire fighters of Kiryat Shemona.
• Personal items requested by combat soldiers (both men and women) serving in Lebanon or along the border.
• Economic support for individual families forced to leave their homes and work to live as refugees in the center of the country.
• Support for Operation Embrace projects including psychological support centers and hospital based programs.
• Workshops provided for soldiers returning from combat including meetings with educators and civilians whose homes had been damaged by Hizboulla missiles and moderated discussions for commanders and soldiers on dealing with combat experience.

See a video that shows Keshet in action in Sderot!
Follow the below link to a video describing this project at :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIuDj4TvCaw