There are many ways to go about doing hands-on work. Most refugee-aid organizations have volunteer opportunities on the ground level. You can also find local (or non-local) refugee communities and identity their specific needs. Starting a grass-roots organization is difficult, but extremely important and has the power to change the scope of entire communities.

Here is my story:

Five years ago, my mom and I started volunteering at and funding a daycare center (gan) in South Tel Aviv called Felicia’s Gan. The children who went there were mostly Eritrean and Sudanese refugees. I started my project by raising money to redo parts of the gan that were dilapidated and even dangerous. For example, the lead paint on the walls was chipping, and many little kids picked it off of the wall and ate it, so we repainted the whole gan. We bought cleaner mattresses for the cribs, and wiped down the cribs and toys.

With the help of Gidon Ben-Ami, a retired Israeli restaurateur who has dedicated his life to helping these African refugees, we identified that one of the main problems in the daycare centers (ganim) was the lack of access to healthy, regular food. It was impossible for the children to develop well on a diet of bread and rice with ketchup. When I returned to New York in 2015, I sent out emails and organized a fundraiser to raise money to supply hot, healthy meals to the kids. We ended up raising over $50,000 enough money to supply nutritious food to three ganim. With the help of Gidon Ben-Ami’s organization, Pesia’s Kitchen, we were able to supply hot, vegan, healthy meals to the ten ganim every day. After three years, approximately six hundred kids have benefited from this program. Caregivers and parents have reported that they notice a difference in the way the kids act and look ever since the beginning of this program. I am now selling beaded jewelry that I make and donating 100% of the proceeds to this program. To donate, check out the “jewelry” page of this website!