The North American federation system has allocated $400,000 to a respite program for youth in the besieged Israeli town of Sderot.
The funding from the United Jewish Communities and North American federations will seed a one-month initiative to take nearly 2,000 young people out of the range of rocket fire once a week. The program started Sunday.
The area that borders the Gaza Strip has been under constant rocket attack from Palestinian terrorists; the intensity has increased in recent weeks.
The UJC, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency for Israel are collaborating on the program.
With this allocation, North American federations have now spent more than $13 million helping the residents of Sderot. That includes UJC’s Israel Emergency Campaign started after Israel’s war with Lebanon in 2006.
In December the UJC, the Jewish Agency and its overseas fund-raising arm, Keren Hayesod, earmarked $300,000 for the residents of Sderot.
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