Help provide respite and fun activities for people in the south. World ORT, through its operating arm in Israel, Kadima Mada, has responded to the emergency in Israel with two practical programs

– To provide respite for more than 2,000 residents of hard-hit southern communities

– Fun, educational activities in public air raid shelters for children in Kiryat Gat and Dimona

The respite program involves bussing families to the relative quiet of the seaside city of Kiryat Yam for stress-free fun and entertainment. The activities for children remaining in the south are an extension of our highly effective YOU-niversity Centres of Excellence program through which we provide quality extra-curricular enrichment course in STEM-related subjects.

Funds are urgently needed for both of these programs. We need to raise significantly more funds than initially thought because we have already been asked by the government and others to radically increase the numbers of young people we serve.

Together with the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Joint Distribution Committee, World ORT benefits from a centralized emergency fundraising campaign run by the Jewish Federations of North America.

If you live in the United States and Canada you can donate online to the JFNA campaign here: http://goo.gl/CwtOkd

From anywhere outside North America please donate here .