Israel Connection
Jewish National Fund
U
nparalleled in the Jewish philanthropic world, Jewish National Fund-USA’s strategic
vision has been, and always will be, to ensure a strong, secure and prosperous future for the land and people of Israel and Jewish people everywhere. Everything we do – every project, initiative and campaign we take on – is integral to our vision of building and connecting to our land. We plant trees, build houses and parks, source water solutions, buy fire trucks and improve the lives of people with disabilities and special needs. We boost tourism, support Aliyah, promote Zionist education and engagement through events like our online “Conversations on Zionism” series (jnf.org/convos), build medical centers and trauma centers, fund agricultural and culinary research and run our Alexander Muss High School in Israel, an American semester abroad experience for high school teens (amhsi.org).
We do all these things because each project, each program, each partnership, is consistent with our strategic vision – population growth in the north and south, connecting the next generation to Israel, infrastructure development, ecology, forestation, heritage preservation and more – all for the land and people of Israel. Jewish National Fund-USA: We are unique, we are strategic, we are visionary and we have been that way since 1901. Joshua Mellits, Director, Western Florida 941-462-1330 x865 jmellits@jnf.org www.jnf.org
Friends of the Israel Defense Forces
“T
heir job is to look after Israel. Ours is to look after them.” This is the motto of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF), a 501(c)(3) organization that cares for the educational and well-being needs of Israel’s soldiers. A group of Holocaust survivors founded FIDF in 1981 to recognize the courageous young Israeli men and women who join the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at age 18 to defend the State of Israel. FIDF has assumed the responsibility of providing these soldiers with love and support in an effort to ease
the burden they carry on behalf of the Jewish community worldwide. Since its inception, FIDF has grown to over 150,000 loyal supporters across
CONNECTIONS 2022
20 chapters in the U.S. and Panama, and provides a range of well-being programs for Israeli soldiers. These include the IMPACT! Scholarship Program, which grants four-year scholarships to combat veterans from disadvantaged backgrounds, and the Lone Soldiers Program, which supports soldiers who volunteered to leave their countries of origin to serve in the IDF. For more information about FIDF and its programs, and how to support the IDF soldiers, contact the Miami Chapter. Dina Ben-Ari, Executive Director 305-354-8233 miami@figf.org www.fidf.org
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