Jobs For the Elderly
Power of Giving (POG) assembles a wide variety of good-quality secondhand items, including furniture, electrical appliances, clothing, toys and more from average Israeli citizens. The donated items are picked up by POG trucks and then cleaned, repaired if necessary and catalogued. There are now 23 POG centers located throughout Israel.
To receive any equipment or furniture, an applicant must present documentation from the local social services, Israel Ministry of Immigrant Absorption or an IDF base. To date, tens of thousands of needy families have obtained necessary good-quality household furniture, appliances and clothing at almost no cost to themselves. This service enables them to utilize their income for other crucial needs and yet live in a dignified, decent setting.
Our Involvement
So, how can Hands On Tzedakah make a profound difference? POG began running a pilot program in funding with the American Joint Jewish Distribution Committee’s immigration division (a/k/a the JOINT or JDC, JDC-ESHEL) to provide employment opportunities to the needy elderly. The program utilizes the potential that the warehouses afford and provides the participants with a stipend, social contacts and self-esteem. It evolved from a dictum set forth by the President of Israel mandating the development of programs and opportunities for a "dignified old age." The largest warehouse is in Kiryat Gat and that is home to the first employment center where there are 20 elders who are working two times per week for 3 to 4 hours per day. They repair furniture and the appliances, sort, mend and display the clothing for ‘resale.’ They earn seven shekels per hour and receive a hot lunch. We spoke to the gentleman who supervises the appliance center. He is part of the program and comes in on his days off to work (unpaid) because he wants to. He told us it makes him feel good to be productive and to be among people.
In order to expand, Power of Giving and the JOINT needed further collaboration. Hands On Tzedakah received a generous individual donation designated for the elderly in Israel and partnered with Power Of Giving and JDC-ESHEL in opening 4 additional centers (Ashkelon, Beer Sheva, Tzfat, Tel Aviv).
We are in year two of the employment center program and began the training for the second stage expansion this year. HOT was able to leverage a $40,000 gift by one of our donors, first by matching it and then having the combined $80,000 matched by JDC and Koach Latet. For three years, that combined $240,000 will keep hundreds of elderly employed and 10,000 families receiving benefits of the furniture, appliances, clothing and repairs.
Contact Information:
JDC-ESHEL-Jerusalem. Mimi Kamilar, External Relations, JDC-ESHEL, Telephone: 011-972-2-655-7508, Email: mimik@jdc.org; Power of Giving, 11 HaTzvi Street, Jerusalem, Telephone: 011-972-02-5378919, www.mifalchaim.org
