Collecting donations and giving the money to people who need it is much more complicated than it may sound. 

That’s because, unfortunately, even in Israel, some try to game the system and collect money that someone in a more dire situation needs desperately. Furthermore, prioritizing families who need money to feed themselves is a whole formula in and of itself. It’s a task that the Israeli government doesn’t have the competence to execute, and they realize it. 

That’s why the Israeli government is outsourcing it to a private organization. That organization is Colel Chabad.

This is the task of Rachely Lisker, Colel Chabad’s field coordinator in the northern city of Acre. Lisker checks the families’ income applying for aid and implements a complicated formula to determine how dire a family’s situation is. Lisker does this by cooperating with the prospect’s social worker to ensure that they make strides to improve their own lives. She reviews how much (if any) help they’re receiving from the Israeli government and weighs their expenses against their income. If they even have an income. The vetting process includes checking their utility bills, rent, other expenses, and outstanding loans. 

Expenses could be anything from families needing to travel around by ambulance because their child is disabled to families needing costly medications. 

For those families, Colel Chabad is there. The organization provides those families with NIS 240 in food stamps and an additional NIS 250 worth of groceries once a month. Colel Chabad also organizes group activities. One recent event was a clinic for the mothers that taught them how to make art from fruit.

Colel Chabad helps ensure that Israeli families don’t suffer from food insecurity and that the government’s money earmarked for the poor doesn’t go to waste.

But to do that, they need help.

Can you donate to Colel Chabad?

If you can, please give whatever you can. Together, you can help fight the war on hunger in Israel Today.

.