North Shore Hebrew Academy in Great Neck sponsored a school-wide campaign, encouraging parents to give their children "The Gift of Giving" in lieu of personal presents on one night of Chanukah. Speakers and video presentations enlisted students' concurrence by heightening their awareness of the plight of children living in poverty in Israel. The response by both parents and students was heartwarming.

We are grateful to Rabbi Yeshayahu E. Greenfeld, Dean, NSHA, for providing the impetus for this project; also to Irene Dicker ,Assistant Principal, and Mrs. Nicole Dicker and Mrs. Dodi Spielman, PTA holiday committe chairs, and of course the wonderful parents and children whose participation was outstanding.

Over $6000, or the equivalent of more than 2000 hot lunches, was raised for "Meir Panim/ Power of Giving," to help provide hot lunches for poor schoolchildren in Israel.

Children emptied their "piggy banks," donated their allowances, and some even brought in candy for the "hungry children". What wonderful examples of the gift of giving!

Israel's children are becoming poorer, more violent and more neglected while the solutions to these problems offered by the state are becoming fewer, according to the National Council for the Child's annual report. The report was presented yesterday to President Moshe Katsav.

There were 2,253,800 children in Israel at the end of 2003. Some 31 percent of them lived below the poverty line, as compared with 29.6 percent in the previous year. Despite the rise in the number of poor children, the number of children whose families received income supplements dropped by 40,000, to 262,000 in 2003. This was because the criteria were made more stringent.

The number of children whose parents divorced in 2003 rose to 12,600 (as compared with 11,450 in 2002), and the number of single-parent families increased by 10 percent. Nevertheless, the number of women receiving alimony via the National Insurance Institute dropped in 2003 to 50,000 - 5,000 fewer than in the previous year.

Unemployment has also been on the rise in the past few years, but the number of children whose parents received unemployment benefits dropped to 117,000 - 68,000 fewer than in the year 2000.

"The data reveal that the troubles are increasing while the solutions are decreasing or disappearing," said Dr. Yitzhak Kadman, who heads the council. "More poor children are receiving less and less economic support, more children are being hurt in schools but there are fewer nurses, more children are involved in violence and crime but there are fewer probation officers. The children of Israel are being left without support."

The number of children with a jailed parent grew by 70 percent in the years 2000-2003, to 10,369.

Some 94,000 children living in Israel have no official status, particularly those from the former Soviet Union. At the same time, the number of single-child families has doubled since 1980, also largely because of the immigration. Today they constitute 34.4 percent of the population of families with children. Almost 17 percent of families with children have four children or more.

(Copy from www.haaretz.com)

This Chanukah, we have erected the largest menorah in the world measuring 10,000 square feet, out of thousands of light bulbs at the entrance to Jerusalem, in collaboration with the Jerusalem municipality. When lit, the menorah will be visible from a vast distance, and will comprise a significant media attraction. This undertaking is part of our comprehensive Chanukah project under the concept of "Lighting Up Children's Faces on Chanukah". The central component of the project is a charity evening to be held on Israel Channel One, the national television station. The menorah will be the largest ever built and has a very good chance of entering the Guinness Book of World Records.

The charity event will be in the format of a two-hour broadcast on Channel One on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2004. The evening will be composed of rotating panels of public figures, social service executives, and so forth; segments of touching human stories, some broadcast live and others filmed in advance; singers, and a telephone control center.

We are currently actively engaged establishing a giant food factory in the city of Kiryat Gat that will include a large industrial kitchen to be built according to Ministry of Health standards. 30,000 meals will be cooked there daily for needy children aged 4-11 studying in educational institutions-kindergartens, schools and afternoon programs. The food will be planned by a children's nutritionist and include all the essential food groups. It will be packed in individual heat-preserving trays and transported to the educational institutions in two special refrigerated trucks according to Ministry of Health regulations. This brilliantly lit giant menorah, and proceeds from the charity evening on Channel One, is intended to support this cause.

For each two dollars donated, a hungry child in Israel will be supplied with a hot meal and another bulb will be lit on the largest menorah ever built in the world.

The home of a large and active Jewish community, Baltimore was selected as the site of a major fundraising drive organized to help Meir Panim build and equip a desperately-needed soup kitchen at Kiryat Gat in the Negev.

The campaign culminated in a memorable concert of traditional and contemporary Jewish music performed by four of Baltimore's leading Cantors on behalf of Meir Panim on November 18, 2004. They were joined by a chorus of area school children who raised their voices in song to help raise money to feed hungry children in Israel. Cantors Avi Albrecht, Thom King, Mel Luterman and Emanuel Pearlman graciously donated their talents for the event. The vocalists were accompanied by the world-class Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Israel's own Eli Jaffe. The program also included Ayela Hagag, principal of a school in southern Israel, who described the rampant poverty in the area and its devastating effect on the health and spirits of children in her school. She was followed by Benny Kiryati, former mayor of Tiberias, as well as representatives of the Meir Panim organization.

The "Children Singing for Children" concert was the inspiration of Cantor Avi Albrecht of Beth Tfiloh Congregation, longtime friend & volunteer of Meir Panim, who is committed to helping Meir Panim accomplish its goal. Cantor Albrecht's concept combined with fundraising expert and professional volunteer Berly Hershkovitz's talents, expertise and hard work in coordinating the campaign provided just the right ingredients for a successful outcome. After visiting Israel to witness the devastation for herself, Berly put her heart and soul into organizing a mammoth effort to educate the public about the dire situation and to ask for support.

As a result of the commitment and effort of the organizers, more than 1,800 people filled the elegant Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in an incredible show of unity and support. The event was hailed as one of the largest and most successful fundraising endeavors ever sponsored in the area in one magical evening.

"We are overwhelmed by public response to this compelling cause. The Baltimore Jewish community opened its heart to the hungry children. You could actually feel the compassion and the love in the audience throughout the theater", Hershkovitz says

And, miraculously, that love translated into money to help Meir Panim in its ongoing effort to combat hunger in Israel. Weeks later, contributions continue to pour in to support the Meir Panim cause. It's no wonder that the children's eyes are glowing with gratitude and hope.

Note:
The success of the Baltimore program is an example of what communities all across America can accomplish. Although the financial results of this one campaign were noteworthy, they will still provide only a small portion of the money needed to feed thousands of hungry children on a daily basis. Sadly, with the devastating economic situation in Israel, the need continues. So must we-as Jews, as parents and protectors of our own children and grandchildren and, most of all, as compassionate human beings-commit ourselves to helping Meir Panim in its struggle to save the children.

To organize a campaign on behalf of Meir Panim in your community, e-mail us at programs@meirpanim.org

To view an excerpt of this wonderful event,
please click here:

On Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004, a special second-hand book fair will open in the "Emtza HaDerech" Shopping Mall. All of the proceeds from the fair will go to the "Meir Panim- Power of Giving" organization to fund hot meals for needy schoolchildren.

This new project in which the public can buy any book for only 5 NIS is intended to encourage the public to read books as well as to help the organization feed hungry schoolchildren. The mall reserved a store at the main entrance of the mall for this project, which is staffed by volunteers from the organization who sell books to the general public.

The mall's manager conveyed that especially now it is important to involve businesses in actively contributing to the community, and that the "Emtza HaDerech" Shopping Mall is proud to be helping the "Meir Panim- Power of Giving" organization. The fair will be open every day from 10 AM to 6 PM.

For details call:
Amos Elad: amos@mifalchaim.org
Lior: 050-780-3167
1-700-50-16-17

Alexa Sara Lean of New York, sent us this beautiful poem
along with a substantial donation in honor of her becoming Bat Mitzvah on 11.13.04.

Because I have such
Wonderful friends
And others have so few,
Please accept
This donation from me
For all the good
It can do.

In honor of my becoming
A Bat Mitzvah
11.13.04

Alexa Sara Lean

We wish her much success in all her endeavors
May she always be a source of pride and joy to her parents.

After almost four years of operations, the first "Meir Panim- Power of Giving" Volunteers Conference took place, with about 200 volunteers from all over the country in attendance.

Among the speakers were Mayor of Herzliya Mrs. Yael German, Chairman Dudi Zilbershlag, and National Welfare Department representative, Mr. Dani Sheffer. Each of the speakers paid tribute to the outstanding contribution of the organization's volunteers.

The conference included a screening of a short film called "The Faces of Volunteers", produced by staff members Michael Stetner, Orit Snir and Racheli Miller.

The highlight of the conference was the awards ceremony. Awards included vacations for two sponsored by "Holiday Inn" Hotels. This prize was awarded to Shoshana Almani from the Migdal HaEmek branch of "Power of Giving", Lior Benishti from the Netanya branch and Devorah Magis of the Kiryat Gat branch. The title of Outstanding National Volunteer went to Etti Rosner from the Jerusalem branch of Meir Panim.

A special certificate of honor was awarded to the "Golden Volunteers", the organization's active senior citizens: Mrs. Ruth Shmut, Mrs. Luba Herzog, Mr. Yaakov Bazerno, Mr. Bezalel Nahmani, Mr. Shimon Avidan and Mrs. Esther Feldman. After Dudi Zilbershlag paid them special tribute, Rivkah Zilbershlag presented them with beautiful bouquets of flowers.

The first part of the evening concluded with Director of the Central Region Michael Stetner's beautiful rendition of Boaz Sharabi's song "To Give".

The second half of the conference featured well-known humorist Lenny Ravitz who provided comic relief and entertainment. As the evening came to a close, appreciation was expressed to the sponsors of the evening and particularly to the Air Force Graduates Association, whose home hosted the event

Now that this successful and enjoyable event is behind us, the organizers are beginning to plan the next conference. Stay tuned!

Tzur Falk, a youth volunteer, celebrated his Bar-Mitzvah at "Meir Panim" recently. Lately, Tzur has been coming every day to help serve lunch in the Jerusalem Food Center, even though he lives outside the city. He made an arrangement with his school to leave early every day so that he can arrive at the Center at 1:00 pm to serve the diners, which he does in his own congenial, kind way. He will often be seen gently guiding a blind elderly gentleman to the table, or serving another diner his favorite food.

Tzur received a well-deserved citation at the volunteer conference that took place at the beginning of the week.

This week, on the day of Tzur's Bar-Mitzvah, he arrived with his parents at the Food Center and donated money that he received for his Bar-Mitzvah towards meals for the needy. His father, Chaim Falk made an additional donation.

We wish Tzur and his family many years of happy occasions, and we are looking forward to seeing him again and again!

The "B'Atzmi" organization, specializing in assisting the unemployed, and the "Kalisher" and "Telalim" absorption centers, in cooperation with "Power of Giving" launched and ran a program on employment initiatives for new immigrants from Ethiopia. The project was created for the purpose of preventing a dismal situation that could thrust these immigrants into the poverty cycle and cause them to become financially dependent on the welfare system, by helping them become working and productive citizens. This unique program provided the immigrants with an opportunity to perceive themselves as capable of succeeding and to believe in their abilities. They learned tools for integrating into the work market and acquired practical experience while working at "Power of Giving" centers. In the future, once they move into their permanent homes, these immigrants are expected to look for jobs with the assistance of the program's facilitators.

On Thursday, Nov. 4, 2004, at 10:00 AM, the clubroom of Kibbutz Telalim will host a festive presentation of the project, which will include the processes and models that comprise the program. In addition, graduation certificates will be awarded to the participants.

For more details and invitations to the event, please contact Rachel Miller at 052-5456530 or pr@pog.org.il

A fifth after-school center has joined the ranks of the other Meir Panim after-school centers located in Kiryat Arba, Kiryat Malachi, Jerusalem and Haifa. This new center is situated in Sderot on Rechov HaVered and is run in cooperation with the "Makom BaLev" association of the US based OU organization.

The center hosts about thirty teenage girls from the seventh and ninth grade in the "Ort Sderot" High School who are not necessarily from troubled backgrounds. The students enjoy enrichment classes on a variety of educational and social topics, with an emphasis placed on social awareness, personal responsibility and empowerment.

Together with the center's director Danny Levy, native residents Shimrit Avitan and Shimrit Elmelich, students of education and social work, conduct the programming and classes.

The after-school center serves as a valuable social unit for these girls, who come on their own volition and always find a listening ear. The center carries a variety of food products in order that the girls prepare their meals on their own, which the center staff believes is part and parcel of the educational experience.

Each month, the center sponsors a trip. This past Sukkot the group went to Superland, which provided the girls with some distance from the threat of Kassam missles.

In the future, this successful trial project of the after-school center will be replicated in other locations.

The Mayor of Petach Tikva, Mr. Yitzchak Ochayon arrived for a visit this week in the Jerusalem branch of Meir Panim. The Mayor spoke with the organizations' administrative staff regarding some ideas and proposals that involve working together in his city.

After the meeting, Mr. Ochayon wrote the following in the guest book:


"My visit to the Meir Panim restaurant was enlightening and important. I am certain that this blessed activity helps the needy. In my role as Mayor of Petach Tikva, I often encounter troubles and problems that an organization such as Meir Panim could certainly alleviate.

I am filled with admiration and blessings for this beautiful enterprise. May you continue your efforts for the sake of Am Israel.

Wishing you success in all you do. With love,
Yitzchak Ochayon
Mayor
Petach Tikva