Spooky | 28 October 2009

What the duck is this article actually about?

PG JonM | 28 October 2009

Duck knows

Rabbi Yakov Levin Israelhelp..org | 2 November 2009

I am writing to you today on behalf of the Help and Education Center, which was established as an Israeli nonprofit organization in 1970. For more than 30 years the Center has served the peripheral community of Kiryat Gat and its surrounding areas as a place devoted to improving the lives of the people that we serve. The Help and Education Center aims to provide educational reinforcement, and therapeutic and welfare services for the well being and advancement of weak populations in of Kiryat Gat.

The statistics concerning the town are far from uplifting. Out of the town’s 57,000 residents, more than half of them live off of welfare payments or earn salaries at a similar level. Kiryat Gat has its share of children and youth at-risk—those who have behavioral problems in school, are delinquent, and even drop out school—many of which come from depressed socioeconomic background. There are over 2,000 children registered with the welfare authorities. Countless children are left to fend for themselves before and after school and would go completely hungry without the programs offered at the Help and Education Center. Often the only food available to these children is bread; without sufficient nutrition, children and youth cannot develop properly. For many, the lunch that they receive in school or in one of the Center’s other programs is their only daily meal. Sadly, some will even take part of their food home to help feed their siblings or family.

The mission of the Help and Education Center is twofold: 1) to provide the “right” programs which can empower the residents of Kiryat Gat and give them the tools to raise themselves out of their unfortunate situation and; 2) to provide educational and enrichment programs as well as academic tutoring that enable the youth to create a better future for themselves.

Since its inception, the Center has been operating programs in accordance with our above mission serving more than 3,000 people each year. Our primary programs include:
• Kindergarten and Daycare Centers—in Israel in order to survive, both parents must work—especially in peripheral towns like Kiryat Gat. Many young children in our area suffer from severe neglect. In order to make a positive difference in their lives, an intervention is necessary before primary school begins. The Center operates 6 daycare centers and 17 kindergartens that provides for many of the developmental needs of these children and more importantly, a regular hot meal and nurturing environment.
• Elementary Schools—The Center operates a school for boys and a school for girls. The girls school is one of our longest standing projects and is fully accredited as a public school by the Ministry of Education i