Day Two - Stories to Share

The work of Federation is to build community - in Western Massachusetts, Israel and around the world. But, what does it mean to build community?  What is a community?  I believe that community is a collection of people and people make community valuable and interesting.   People have stories to share and those stories make up who we are as a people.

Today we spent the day with many fascinating people.  Everyone with whom we met shared their story with us.  Each story connected them to us personally.  And, each story exemplified how their lives were made better because of the Federation system.

Pictured on the left is Yuval.  Yuval lost his arms in the Israeli army.  He was a combat engineer and had a devastating accident while training.  His life changed forever.  But, that is not even half of his story.  After many years of recuperating and struggle, Yuval discovered that there is a community of disabled people in Israel whose needs are not being met.  Whether a physical, educational, psychological or emotional disability, Yuval has made it his life's work to advocate for those with disabilities.  He said "all disabled people can live in a community if they get the assistance they need.  They have the ability to control their own lives."  Yuval currently runs the Center for Independent Living (CIL) in Tel Aviv.  This is a project funded by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) through our campaign dollars.  Every day, Yuval takes his own personal experience and helps make lives better for those who are newly struggling with a disability.  He was such an inspiration.


Our next stop was a meeting with scholarship recipients the American-Israeli Cultural Foundation (AICF).  We met wonderfully talented children like Michael who are able to study the arts and music because of the scholarship that he (and his sister) receive.  They both played for us and they were outstanding!  As we were reminded, thriving arts reflect a healthy culture and society.  Our Jewish history is full of music, art and expression and Federation is helping to carry on these traditions through our work with children like Michael. 

Destun and Tadel below are two 15 year old Ethiopian boys who participate in youth activities at the Ethiopian National Project (ENP)Youth Outreach Center.  This center provides programs, activities, outings and a safe place for youth who would otherwise be home alone or out on the streets.  The Tadel on the left shared with me that his favorite subject in school is art and he loves to draw.  He is able to practice his art skills at the youth center.  Destun likes biblical history and sports.  Our funding of ENP enables boys and girls like Tadel and Destun to dream, plan and create a future for themselves.  Their parents came as immigrants and they are determined to be successful and strong for Israel.  This story is multigenerational and speaks to how we as a people share and value tenacity, hope, resilience and opportunity.  It is because of Yuval, Michael, Destun and Tadel and so many others that we work so hard to raise funds for our community and our people.  Together, we have really done some extraordinary things!

There were so many other wonderful stories to share from today, but these were a few of the highlights, before I try to get a few hours of sleep!  More to come!