BLESS ISRAEL FUND: The Bless Israel Fund was established in 2020 marking the 40th Year Anniversary of ICEJ representing Christians to Israel, bringing love, care and comfort in keeping with the mandate of Isaiah 40:1-2.

In 2021, Israel needed the support and love of ICEJ Canada more than ever due to the worldwide rise in anti-Semitism. Even here we are seeing a dramatic increase in anti-Semitism, especially on our university campuses and social media. We must speak out on the truth concerning the hostility and prejudice towards the Jewish people.

This fund is utilized for all projects that bless Israel whether in Israel or Canada, such as helping orphaned and marginalized children, women at risk, outreach, or empowering the low-income elderly population wherever it is needed most.

Caring for Orphans: Many children find themselves in terrifying situations of being removed from their homes following severe abuse and neglect. These children need professional help, a loving home environment, and an opportunity for a better future. With the support of good people coming alongside to help them in their time of need, they have a fighting chance of becoming healthy, contributing members of Israeli society. Without it, their future is bleak.

ICEJ Canada cares for and supports these children in family group homes throughout Israel by providing food and trauma aid packages, educational supplies, clothing, personal hygiene products, basic equipment for everyday needs and extracurricular activities, etc. These children are classified as orphans, either having one or no living parent and coming from all types of traumatic situations; including parental suicide and parental death from illness or from murder. The children arrive distressed and alone. While the Ministry of Welfare provides partial funding, they only cover approximately 12% of these expenses. We need the help of generous donors.

Children’s Home Bakery: This home was founded in 1954 in Be’er Tuvia, South Israel, with the purpose of providing a safe environment for children to dwell who have to be removed from their own homes. The 72 children/youth currently living there are aged 7-18. There is also a smaller group of 16 children ages 3-14 who are there on emergency removal from their homes who will remain there until it is determined what is best for them. This home also offers social services with therapeutic and enriching activities for an additional 45 children who live with their own families as a way to help prevent them from being removed from their family home environment.

Arising from the desire to provide the children with practical life skills, the home has converted one of its rooms into a bakery. This will teach the children baking, cooking and business skills. It is our hope that the bakery will also be a source of income for the home as they develop the business and begin to sell outside their own community. Working in this bakery with a qualified instructor gives the children greater independence, enabling them to use all their senses while also developing their abilities, creativity, and confidence. There is a huge demand of young people coming from other areas who want to participate and the bakery needs more funds to accommodate.

Absorption/Mentoring Project for Immigrant Children in Akko: Located in the coastal plain region of Northern Israel, Akko’s population of 54,000 consists of Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Bahá’ís. Akko has absorbed large numbers of immigrants from around the world with 30% of the school children originating from the former Soviet Union and Ukraine. Not knowing Hebrew, the families are caught in an economically restrictive cycle, and the children in a difficult situation not being able to participate in normal school lessons/activities. The municipality and schools do not have the budget to help solve the language gap and the parents do not have the money to pay for private Hebrew lessons nor academic enrichment for their children.

The Mentoring Project was created to help university students struggling to pay their tuition by offering them scholarships in exchange for 290 tutoring hours teaching immigrant children the Hebrew language.

Red Carpet Centre for Women at Risk: “When we first noticed Nadya, she sat on the sand covered in filth. It was evident that she had lived on the street for a long time. She and other girls beside her were visibly high on heroine. Under the influence of the drugs, Nadya wasn’t able to hold conversation. We noticed she wasn’t able to stop touching toes that were red and swollen with sores. She sat and continuously rubbed them due to the pain. Our team left feeling sad and helpless. As we walked away a vision was birthed to open a center where women like Nadya could receive help and a pedicure/manicure.”

Deep in the heart of Tel Aviv, many wounded women live in a parallel world of brothels and drug dealers. Trafficking of women is one of the major areas of international crime in Israel today. According to Rabbi Levi Li’or, director of Atzum, a local organization working to prevent trafficking in Israel, trafficking and prostitution in Israel began to be a problem in the late 90’s when a group of about 40 sex slavers made up of Arab Israelis, Russian Israelis, and people from local crime families established a sex trafficking ring. There is even a small brothel operating with 8-10 girls who are being sold for sex. 90% of the women in prostitution have been sexually and violently abused at a young age through incest and rape, or have faced other types of abuse. What these women and young girls are going through is horrific, traumatizing, degrading and inhumane. In the midst of the devastation of these precious women, the Red Carpet Centre offers help. Through this centre some prostitutes have managed to save their babies from abortion or begin the process of rehabilitation.

The Red Carpet Centre is a large facility that provides a safe place to sleep, shower and receive food, medical treatment, clothes, job training and counselling. At present, 20 – 30 prostitutes come for assistance when the Centre is open. The Centre also operates a 24/7 hotline for women in crisis. ICEJ Canada truly appreciates the opportunity we have to sponsor this Centre as a beacon of hope for broken women in Israel.

Yad L’Kashish – LifeLine for Elderly Ethiopians: Each morning, nearly 300 low-income elderly Ethiopians arrive from around Jerusalem to 9 artisan workshops by bus and train. Most of them are over the age of 80. Upon arrival in Israel, they struggle to find meaningful work given their advanced age and lack of basic Hebrew. They suffer from isolation and food insecurity. Having overcome life’s most challenging situations, these beautiful people remain determined to live meaningful and productive lives. The purpose of this project is to preserve the role these individuals held as productive, valuable members of the community by providing them meaningful daily work opportunities, routine, social and financial benefits as well as camaraderie. Improved financial security allows the elderly to meet basic needs such as housing, food and medicine. They greatly benefit from the resulting independence, renewed self-worth, and dignity.