Back-to-School Help for Struggling Families

The Fellowship  |  September 6, 2022

As children around the world head back to school, far too many come from families who cannot provide what the kids need to thrive. That’s especially the case in the Holy Land, where The Jerusalem Post’s Zachy Hennessy reports, The Fellowship has identified and acted to help the neediest of Israel’s schoolchildren as they head back to school:

While there may currently be some uncertainty surrounding the beginning of the school year, the need for back-to-school supplies hasn’t gone away. However, according to a survey conducted by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) and the Geocartography Knowledge Group, as many as one-quarter of all families in Israel estimate they don’t have the budget to purchase supplies ahead of the 2022 school year.

As such, the IFCJ is spearheading a program to help ensure children will not be deprived of the school supplies many kids take for granted.

The program will see the distribution of 11,500 vouchers, each in the amount of NIS 300, that can be used for purchases in Kravitz office and school supply stores. The effort has been made possible through the generosity of over 600,000 donors from around the world. The vouchers themselves will be distributed in partnership with 55 non-profit organizations located across Israel.

“Pencils, notebooks and a schoolbag are basic needs for children to succeed in school,” IFCJ President Yael Eckstein said. “This partnership with Kravitz funded by our committed community of donors will take a bit of the burden off of these families under what we know continues to be a challenging time.”

 “While historically the economic challenges associated with a new school year were relegated to lower-income homes, factors from increasing prices, as well as lingering economic effects from COVID-19 has those hardships impacting on wider elements of our society,” said Eckstein…