16 Tamuz, 5762
Jerusalem

Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert to Attend Jerusalem-New York "Partnership 2000 Steering Committee" Barbeque Meeting this Evening

Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert tonight will be guest of honor at a Jewish Agency Jerusalem -New York "Partnership 2000 Steering Committee" meeting and barbeque tonight (26 June) at 19:30 hours, on the lawn of the German Colony Community Center, 12 Emek Refaim St., in Jerusalem. At the meeting, the UJA-Federation of New York leadership will get to meet their Jerusalem counterparts as well as the volunteers and field workers involved in "Partnership 2000" projects in Jerusalem.

The Jewish Agency's Israel Department, together with the UJA-Federation of New York, and the Jerusalem Municipality inaugurated "Partnership 2000" in 1995. The New York-Jerusalem partnership came into being out of recognition of Jerusalem's importance to the Jewish People. These two communities joined together, in a relationship built on mutual ties and understanding and anchored by  means of planning, development and financing of joint programs and activities. These ties were reinforced after September 11th , when New Yorkers and Jerusalemites discovered that they shared a similarity of  destiny. Consequently there was an increase in exchange visits by youth and by professionals.

The Jerusalem-New York Steering Committee, under the leadership of Mrs. Cheryl Fishbein and Mr. Bill Levin of Jerusalem, examines potential projects, set policy and allocates resources for 42 projects, which have been budgeted for the 2002. The UJA-Federation of New York allocates $2 million for these aims. Some 70 volunteers from Jerusalem and New York are active in the Steering Committee and its subcommittees. These volunteers represent a micro-cosmos of all forms of partnership and tasks. Projects supported by the partnership reach out across all age groups and include youth exchanges of professionals in community involvement, encounters between educators, development of materials for formal and informal education. This year, the organizers of the committee proceedings decided to hold a special event and to have the decision-makers of the committee meet many of the program participants with the aim of increasing interaction between them.

Tonight's meeting will include exhibitions and artistic presentations, as well as good fellowship and food! Some 300 are expected to attend tonight's event. You are cordially invited to attend.

For additional information, please contact Yehuda Weinraub at: 053-927017