Jaren's Bar Mitzva project

Dear Family and Friends, I am lucky to have grown up in a community where the values of Tzedakah and a love of Israel were always modeled and taught. Most of you already know I love spending my time doing anything involving basketball! l love playing basketball in my backyard with my friends and family, playing on my school team, buying and selling basketball cards and watching my favorite NBA teams. Playing basketball has given me self-confidence and taught me the importance of practice and hard work. In honor of my Bar Mitzvah, I have chosen to fund a renovation of a basketball court at the Talpiot Youth Village in Hadera. The Talpiot Youth Village in Hadera is a boarding school for at-risk and distressed youth. In the State of Israel there are currently about 450,000 children and youth defined as children at risk. These are children and adolescents who are at risk of physical injury or who are living in a physically or mentally abusive family environment. Placement in a home-based setting is often the only way to protect their well-being and to ensure their proper development. The kids at Talpiot play soccer and basketball almost every afternoon and it is a very important outlet for them. I even had a chance to play with them when I visited Israel this past November! Their court is old and unsafe and has failed inspection by the municipality. In Lieu of gifts for my Bar Mitzvah, you can make a tax-deductible contribution to this project. With your help, the donations will go to fix and renew the facilities to make sure these kids will get to continue enjoying and benefitting from the court.