FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jodi Bodner
JNF Director of Communications
212-879-9305 ext. 221
jbodner@jnf.org
American Jews' Support for Israel Shows in Donation Totals
JNF’s Emergency Campaign for Israel Is Raising Millions
August 11, 2006 --New York, NY -- Responding immediately to the crisis in Israel, on the afternoon of Friday, July 14, Jewish National Fund (JNF) launched Operation Security Blanket, its emergency campaign for Israel.
To date, $4.2 million dollars has been raised through JNF’s website and regional offices. The money is being used to:
- Send children from areas under rocket attack to JNF campsites throughout central Israel, allowing them to escape the dangerous and stressful situation at home for a few days.
- Provide entertainment and daily activities to those children who are in the bomb shelters.
- Build security bypass roads to protect citizens living on the Gaza border.
- Provide Israeli firefighters and emergency responders with necessary safety equipment and fire trucks to battle the raging forest fires caused by rocket attacks as well as fire retardant to contain the fires. (As seen in The New York Times, August 8, "Dry Forests in Northern Israel are Damaged as Hezbollah's Rocket Attacks Ignite Fires.")
Online donations alone have topped $665,000 and the number of first-time online gifts is 2,554.Interestingly, the average online donation, usually about $50, is $179 in this campaign.
Russell Robinson, JNF’s Chief Executive Officer, attributes the campaign’s success to two factors: relevancy and technology.
“People are getting news of the crisis delivered daily into their homes through TV and the internet,” said Robinson. “They see the pictures of children in bomb shelters and of the fires raging in the north. We are giving them a vehicle to help directly and it allows them to really feel they are partners with their brethren in Israel. They are seeing a war that is directly affecting human life and Operation Security Blanket is enabling them to respond exactly to what they’re seeing. They see the kids hovering in bomb shelters and know their dollars are giving them respite and air; they see the firefighters battling the blazes and know their dollars are helping put out those fires.
“As for technology,” said Robinson, “thanks to the internet we were able to reach 280,000 people in seconds and get the message out. We have since kept them informed in a quick and efficient manner and dailyupdates are available on our blog -- http://www.jnf.org/. The internet also allows people to easily forward information to their spheres of influence and that has increased our exposure tremendously.
“We are finding that the American Jewish community’s connection to Israel is stronger than ever before,” he said, “and this campaign is about everyone. Donations range from $18 to $100,000 and the ability to give online has allowed us to reach the younger
Operation Security Blanket also saw the trial launch of JNF’s new online tribute capability. Tribute pages allow people to honor or memorialize a loved one by raising money online while inviting others to join in the tribute. The page can include a photo and paragraph on the person; a guest book allows participants to share their thoughts. The Marla Bennett Fund, created in memory of Marla Bennett who was killed in a terrorist attack at Hebrew University on July 31, 2002, had an original goal of $20,000. To date, it has raised more than $26,000 and donations are still coming in.
Art Silber, a Florida resident and treasurer of JNF, who was in Haifa, Israel at the start of the crisis and spent time in a bomb shelter and drove through eerily empty streets, said: “There is no way we here in America can understand what it's like to be there, to hear a siren, to feel fear, to hear an explosion. What we're doing here really means a lot to them over there and I have been involved with JNF a long time and I really appreciate being able to say that.”
“As far as the importance, the significance of what we're doing with Operation Security Blanket,” said Long Island resident Stephen Wolnek, a JNF vice president, “it’s vital. In this type of situation, instead of seeing kids cowering in bomb shelters, they're smiling and relieved. The camps are very much appreciated and needed.”
Said Sharon Barhom, a resident of Kibbutz Malkiyya on the Lebanese border: “JNF is doing holy work.”
For more information on Operation Security Blanket, please visit www.jnf.org
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Jewish National Fund is a non-profit organization founded in 1901 to serve as caretaker of the land of Israel, on behalf of its owners—Jewish people everywhere. Over the past century, JNF has planted over 240 million trees, built over 180 reservoirs and dams, developed over 250,000 acres of land, created more than 1,000 parks, provided the infrastructure for 1,000 communities and educated students around the world about Israel and the environment. Today, JNF is putting its century of experience to work with the Blueprint Negev initiative, supporting Israel’s newest generation of pioneers in developing the Negev Desert, Israel’s last frontier. For more information on JNF or to plant trees in Israel, call 1-800-542-TREE (8733) or visit www.jnf.org. To contact your local office, please call 888-JNF-0099 or visit www.jnf.org.
