A project for Peoplehood

When DB participated in Federation’s Peoplehood Project a few years ago, we made some very good friends who ended up hosting us in Israel when we went two years ago. Now the second cohort of Peoplehoodniks are approaching the last few months of their two-year program – but never fear, it never really ends!

As a group they have decided to raise funds to outfit at least 10 bomb shelters with communications and entertainment for our Israeli brethren living in harm’s way. Could you get to safety in the 15 seconds that the warning siren is sounding? I have been inside several bomb shelters. Some are barren and scary, some are decorated and used as a family room or extra bedroom so that when they are used for a siren, they are not so frightening to be stuck in for a few minutes or a few hours.

Please consider supporting this worthwhile cause. They are more than halfway to their goal – let’s lift them the rest of the way!

http://www.indiegogo.com/when-the-sirens-stop

From their fundraising page:

When the sirens are blaring everyone knows what to do and how to act. Those within earshot find shelter, and the rest hold their breath and pray. But when the sirens stop, what happens?

Those hurling the rockets use this time to restock and resupply their weapons arsenal. Our friends in the Negev do likewise, except instead of igniters and launchers, these Israelis purchase water, dried fruit, DVDs and batteries – to supply their bomb shelters with essentials for themselves and their children.  When the sirens stop it is time to get ready for when they will sound again. As friends who care, our ability to help when the sirens are wailing is limited. We can’t provide shelter where there is none and we can’t stop the rockets.

But when the sirens stop we can do much. We can help to make the shelters as functional and comfortable as possible. We can make sure there are toys and games, music and movies, laptops and software so the children will be distracted from the events outside.  A well equipped shelter will not eliminate the longer term trauma a child will suffer from this type of existence, but it will certainly lessen its immediate impact.

It costs approximately $500 US to outfit a modest sized bomb shelter with entertainment, games and communications to the outside world. As more Israelis at all economic levels are now required to have a safe room or shelter, the need for what to do while waiting inside, for hours and hours at a time, has become an imperative. Our goal is to outfit 10 shelters. Please contribute what you can.  Every dollar you give will go directly to the purchase of peaceful, educational and engaging products to help our friends manage inside their shelters when the alarms go off. And when the sirens stop, they will know you have supported them with your caring gift.

Funding Note: Donations to When The Sirens Stop will go to the Israel Terror Relief Fund of the Jewish Federation of Greater Metrowest (NJ), where they will be forwarded directly to the Alpha program in Ofakim, Israel.