On our Gap Year in Israel with FZY we went on a siyur to Sderot, a beautiful town ruined by being under constant attack. Although we where told the dangers nothing prepared us for the 9 Qassam rockets that landed during our stay. Although it was a horrible experience- one I wish not on anyone, I am glad that it happened to our group as each one of us has put a positive spin on the experience.
Its up to us, those that live in the Diaspora to educate about the terrible situation from a first hand experience and it is our duty to always stand with the people of Sderot and fundraise in any way that we can.
What have we done so far?
We have created a charity called “15 Seconds for Sderot” who work with and for the Sderot Media Centre to help them in anyway that we can. Our two main aims are raising awareness about Sderot; and rasing money to build bomb shelters in the Western Negev.
With the help of Noam and the Media Centre we created a presentation to tell our story, show videos of others and give facts about Sderot. So far this has been delivered to 500 people from America, Canada, England, Switzerland and more. Thus in turn they are taking our presentation and using it back in their hometowns as well as creating their own projects.
Our first project was making a sweater to raise awareness (can be seen on the website) so far we have sold 180 and have 1000 more to be made and sold.
What we plan to do..
In the pipeline we plan to give our presentation to schools and universities throughout Great Britain.
We are starting to work with JNF who also work with Sderot Media Centre and help them with their future projects including events and helping them fundraise. One of the projects is working with them at the “Salute to Israel Rally” in England on 29th June. We will also be creating our own flyers to hand out with information about Sderot; 6000 people are expected.
A project we are working on with Noam is sending out a text message every time a Qasssam lands; the idea is that when a person is bombarded with these messages they cannot ignore the situation. Every text means another Tzeva Adom has sounded and the people of Sderot had 15 seconds to run for cover- it will keep the people of Sderot on the forefront of their mind.
We plan on putting on two large events around September time in England in order to raise money for the bomb shelters.
Our last immediate project is creating a gimmick such as bracelets to raise money.
If you would be interested in helping with any of our projects, signing up to any or would like to donate please email: [email protected]
