The Jewish Federation expands its impact at the end of the year. Even more planned for 2024.
At the close of 2023, the Jewish Federation of Ocean County just announced another $40,000 in grants from its Israel Emergency Fund to aid those victims of the October 7 massacre in Israel. “These grants are meant to provide relief and assistance to our friends and extended family in Israel as they rebuild shattered lives in the shadow of an ongoing war to keep Israel safe and to help heal a traumatized society,” said Annabel Lindenbaum, Board Chair of the Jewish Federation.
This is the second round of grants made as a result of the Federation’s Ocean County Israel Emergency Campaign. Grants were made to:
- Brothers and Sisters for Israel, the largest aid organization in Israel responding to the aftermath of October 7 by mobilizing critical resources and aid, providing accommodation for displaced families, evacuating those in war zones, locating missing individuals, and much more.
- ZAKA, an organization that collects the remains of the dead for proper burial, and the Koby Mandell Foundation for a special project supporting the Central Identification Office - a unit in the IDF that ensures proper identification preparation of bodies for burial and to bring closure to he victims’ families.
- Organizations supporting the families of hostages, as well as efforts to raise awareness and encourage their safe return, including Bring Them Home Now, a project of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, and Bring Hersh Home.
- Support for two programs helping young adults from more disadvantaged and challenging backgrounds to succeed after high school, Derech Eretz and Kfar Silver.
- Support for our ongoing partner, Shutaf Inclusion Programs, to enable group outings and workshops for special needs young adults who have had their lives and routines disrupted by the ongoing security situation, and including those who have been evacuated from the North and South of Israel.
- Funding for a special program focused on embracing the children and the adults who are home from captivity, developing a custom mental and physical wellness and recovery plan for each of those recovering from trauma, for the short as well as long-term.
- Support for the Jewish Federation of North America’s Emergency Campaign, the Jewish Agency for Israel, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and the Shalom Hartman Institute.
The campaign has already surpassed its goal of raising $150,000 and is now seeking to reach $180,000.
Keith Krivitzky, Managing Director of the Jewish Federation, added: “This response to the situation in Israel is in addition to the Jewish Federation’s ongoing work supporting our community in Ocean County, through our Jewish Family and Children’s Services program helping Holocaust survivors and seniors, our grants to local programs and organizations addressing food insecurity and building bridges in the community, and our programming to counter hate and antisemitism - most notably through partnering with the Ocean County Culture & Heritage Commission, the Prosecutor’s Office, and Ocean County College.”
The Jewish Federation offers several community-wide programs, including a film festival, a Heroes Against Hate awards program at their Community of Caring event, social programming such as The Place To Be, and a monthly newspaper called the Jewish Journal.
For more information, visit www.jewishoceancounty.org.