Amidst continued war in Israel, the level of destruction becomes more clear with each passing day — as does the need to come together.
Many of our Darca communities in the south of Israel near the Gaza border had to evacuate urgently due to the emergency circumstances, many times leaving behind their homes, possessions, and almost everything they know. Upon relocating, hundreds of students — both from within the network and outside of it — have since joined four Darca Schools in safer areas in the north of Israel, helping them regain structure, support, and community in their lives as they navigate these turbulent times.
Darca strives to supply each student with individualized support, taking into account their specific needs during this period. Regardless of their ability, religion, birthplace, geographic or socioeconomic status, Darca provides each of these displaced and evacuated students with the same treatment and resources as their current students. And it doesn’t stop there — our Darca students at the four host schools have gone above and beyond to welcome their new peers with open arms, helping them feel unity, safety, and friendship in their new learning environments.
Now it’s time for us to do our part:
To help these students rebuild their lives after unimaginable tragedy, we have created our Support for Displaced & Evacuated Students initiative as part of our YRF Israel Emergency Campaign for this year’s #GivingTuesday. Join us by taking action to support these students when they need our help most.
For $2,000, you can support an evacuated student through the remainder of the academic year.
Although the situation is dynamic and the needs of each student differ greatly, we have determined an approximate breakdown of the total amount above:
- $930 for weekly subsidized lunch per student
- $650 per computer for students who either do not have one or had to leave theirs behind when evacuating
- $320 for supplemental educators and additional teaching hours to support each student
- $100 for supplies, backpack, and school apparel per student
- (All displaced and evacuated students already receive psychological and emotional counseling thanks to the support provided by the YRF Israel Emergency Campaign)
Every dollar directly benefits these students, helping to provide them with the resources they need to navigate these challenging times — no gift is too small.
Our #GivingTuesday campaign will run from today (11/28) through next Thursday on the first night of Hanukkah (12/7). Thank you for your continued and steadfast partnership!
Despite the horrors they have endured since October 7th, the resilience of our students is both incredible and inspiring. Please see below for a personal testimony from two students, detailing their experience of evacuating their home and joining a Darca School in the Valley of Springs:
“We are Y.A. and M.S. Both of us are eleventh grade students evacuated from Kibbutz Hanita in the north of Israel on October 8th. We have been welcomed to Darca Geon Hayarden with open arms from Day One. We feel good here. The teachers are really nice and they do all that is in their power to make us feel at home and fill in our learning gaps. It wasn’t easy to leave everything behind, and although we hope we will be able to return to our lives soon, we feel the school is doing all it can to ease this difficult situation and turn our stay into a nice experience. And for that, we are very grateful.”