Ofakim has absorbed new immigrants from its first days as an immigrant transit camp, and in the waves of immigration which entered Israel in the 1990s, Ofakim opened its doors to the olim who have intermingled with our city.

In its activities to promote absorption of olim in Ofakim and their assimilation into Israeli society, the Ofakim Community Center organized extensive social and cultural activity, which was made possible thanks to the assistance of Partnership 2000.

The Community Center organizes and implements social and cultural activities in collaboration with the Absorption Ministry, the Ofakim Municipality and Partnership 2000. These include group singing evenings for the olim and tours to familiarize themselves with the country and integrate them in the cultural life of the city and strengthen their bond to the land and its heritage.

For this purpose, the olim traveled to tour the holy city of Jerusalem, the White City of Tel Aviv and the alleyways of the old city of Jaffa, as well as Haifa, Beit Guvrin and other sites.

A unique project which the Community Center initiated together with the olim is the establishment of an immigrants' choir called, "We Are Here," which numbers 30 singers led by Alex Parchuk as conductor. Among the choir's repertoire are songs in Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian and Ukrainian.

"We Are Here" appeared this year at the Victory Day Ceremony, at the Yiddish Song Festival in Ashkelon and also at the Beersheva hostel.

In addition, this year performances were held by the Kavkazi dance group "Veten," which is composed of thirty dancers and musicians who dance and play traditional Kavkazi music.

This year this group reached the semi-finals in the dance competitions of the IACC. This year the group participated in special events for olim in Ofakim and in Netivot, in the Ofakim Jubilee events and also in an Independence Day performance.