Yad Ezra V’Shulamit is a charity organization located in Israel. Their mission is to feed poor and hungry families in Israel, with a special focus on providing daily hot meals for children. They currently give out 2500 food baskets a week to poor Israeli families, provide daily meals to children, run annual clothing and school supply drives and operate a Job Desk, in which they help unemployed parents find work. The motto of the organization is "Breaking the Cycle of Poverty One Child at a Time".
Contents
History
Yad Ezra V’Shulamit was founded by Aryeh Lurie, a native Israeli who grew up poor and hungry himself. He vowed that if he could overcome the challenges of poverty as an adult, he would make it his mission to help others do the same. And so, in 1998, Yad Ezra V’Shulamit, named after his parents, was born.
Food baskets
Food baskets are given out on Thursday so that the families have food for Shabbat. Depending on the size of the family, the baskets can last till either Sunday or Monday. By that time, the children are back in school, and back in the Children’s Center programs, where they receive a hot meal every day of the school week.
Yad Ezra V’Shulamit distributes 2500 food baskets a week to families in Israel. Food baskets contain basic necessities, such as bread, canned goods and chicken for Shabbat. Food baskets are given out on Thursday so the family can rest assured that they will be able to put food on their Shabbat tables. Special food baskets are given out to many more families for specific holidays, such as Rosh Hashana and Passover. Rabbi Joel Landau became responsible for the distribution in late 2014.
Children’s Centers
Hundreds of children in different parts of the country attend Yad Ezra V’Shulamit’s Children’s Centers, where children receive a hot meal of chicken or fish, a side dish, salad and unlimited bread and drinks.
Many children that come to the center are from families in which one or both parents are sick and unable to work, or they are orphans and lack the parental love that every child craves. When they come to Yad Ezra V’Shulamit, in addition to a hot meal, they receive tutoring, attention and caring from trained professionals, counselors, tutors and volunteers. Many children that come in with sad faces often blossom after a few months of the nurture and nutrients from the centers.
Clothing Distribution
In the winter months of rain and cold, Yad Ezra V’Shulamit organizes campaigns to collect money for coats and blankets for children whose parents can’t afford them. They also buy other winter gear such as boots, scarves and gloves, and distribute them to needy children.
Yad Ezra V’Shulamit also runs school-supply campaigns so that children can go to school with basic necessities such as backpacks, pencils and notebooks.
Job Desk
Many of the parents who receive food baskets are from a lower-class background, and have not received even a high school education. Thus, the jobs that are available to them are very limited. Yad Ezra V’Shulamit helps these people with their resumes and gets them job interview, because even a minimum wage job is better than no job.
Breaking the Cycle of Poverty
By giving children a chance at a healthy and normal childhood, as well as adults the chance to contribute in societal workplaces, Yad Ezra V’Shulamit seeks to break the cycle of poverty. Healthy children mean that they can grow into healthy adults, and hopefully have the tools to provide for their future families.
Criticism
Yad Ezra V’Shulamit has been criticized as giving assistance to underprivileged children for secondary religious reasons over and above charitable reasons.