MASA – Israel Journey: MASA brings young Jewish adults to Israel in partnership with the Government of Israel to reinforce their Jewish identity and strengthen their ties to Israel and their community.

Volunteers for Galilee, is a multi-pronged MASA program that combines the needs of overseas supporters who want to help Israel with the needs of its northern communities.  Volunteers for Galilee mobilizes young-adult, overseas volunteers to reinforce northern Israel’s population through diverse initiatives including: programs to teach in schools, work in industries, facilitate informal educational programs and study in Northern Israel’s colleges. Volunteers for Galilee also has an added value as a Jewish-Israel connector fortifying participants’ commitment to Israel and Jewish continuity, and as a boost to the failing tourism industry as participants ensure that the rate of incoming visitors does not fall drastically during the aftermath of war.

This is not the first time that Israel has lived through a security crisis; the tourism industry is still licking its wounds following the decrease in tourism during the last Intifada. One of the lessons learned is that some groups continued coming to Israel, regardless of security concerns. One such group was birthright israel participants.  These young adults were less intimidated by and fearful of the security situation. As independent and free-spirited young adults, the appeal to come to Israel on a free ten-day trip was too tempting to turn down. These young adults provided invaluable relief to a stilted tourist economy as they came from the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and the FSU and traveled throughout Israel.  

Those who remember the volunteer spirit, particularly as inspired within the North American Jewish community immediately after the Six-Day and Yom Kippur wars in 1967 and 1973, know that these experiences helped shape an entire generation both around the world and in Israel.  We believe that Volunteers for Galilee can provide the same kind of "fire" for the next generation of Jewish leadership and forge bonds that will never be broken between the Jews in Israel and Jews from around the world.

As in the period following the Intifada, we assume that the tourist rate to Israel will fall. As such, MASA and Volunteers for Galilee will serve as the main force ensuring that Jewish groups return to Israel. We are fortunate that the infrastructure is in place to enable us to utilize MASA to bring hundreds of Jewish youth who might otherwise remain unattached to their cultural heritage and to Israel.

Volunteers for Galilee aims to confront two main challenges:

• The need to assist vulnerable communities in northern Israel by providing volunteer human resources
• The need to ensure Jewish continuity by ensuring that young Jews who originally planned on spending extended study/volunteer visits in Israel, still do so. 

The Jewish Agency Response

Volunteers for Galilee will mobilize young Jewish volunteers, ages 18-30, from all over the world to help Israeli children and youth from hard-hit northern regions in a variety of educational and vocational settings. It will give young volunteers the opportunity to work side by side with Israelis eager to recover from the shock of war and build better lives for themselves and their children.

Volunteers for Galilee was developed utilizing the Jewish Agency's expertise and success in implementing programs for overseas volunteers such as the successful long-term MASA Israel Journey education/volunteer program implemented in partnership with the Israeli Government and educational institutions country-wide.

Volunteers for Galilee, as its name suggests, targets the Galilee.  It will be implemented as two components: the first will recruit and relocate current MASA participants to volunteer programs in northern Israel; the second will recruit new participants for programs to be implemented during the 2006-7 and 2007-8 school years.

Detailed Description of Program Components

Component 1 – Going North
Immediate regrouping of current participants, to fulfill crucial needs

MASA goes North
By the end of September 2006 over 6,000 young MASA participants will have already landed in Israel, eager to participate in their varied programs and volunteer their time for the benefit of Israel.  Volunteers for Galilee, Going North is a unique and well-organized opportunity to capitalize on the eagerness of these young people to help, as well as the serious need for volunteer hours in the north.  Going North is a five-day volunteer module to be held in September and October 2006.  The module will comprise critical and immediate volunteer work in combination with the opportunity to see and learn, firsthand, about the region and the effect of this war on it. 
Cost per participant:  $200

Relocating to the North
In an effort to both encourage current MASA participants to change course and participate in Volunteers for Galilee programs and to revitalize the north through innovative exciting activities conducted there, a maximum number of general MASA activities will be relocated to the north.  Relocated activities will include: seminars, field trips, cultural events, volunteer opportunities, leadership retreats and large-scale overall "happenings."
Total estimated cost:  $500,000

Component 2

A. Volunteers for Galilee 2006-7: Three separate tracks to bring 1,000 new MASA participants to support the civilian sector in the north

The program will begin with a serious and significant orientation during which participants will study Hebrew, learn about the Israeli education system and about the geographic area in which they will be working.  After the orientation, the participants will be placed in communities where they will volunteer four days a week and spend one day a week studying in a special enrichment program through a local college that will include lectures, seminars and tours.

Volunteers will be placed in communities in Israel's north on the basis of their interests, backgrounds and qualifications. The program will also include educational activities for the volunteers to enrich their experience in Israel.

1. Teach for Galilee
   This new program will begin in November 2006 with opportunities to join throughout the year.  "Teach for Galilee" will mobilize Jewish young adults to come to Israel for a period of 3-8 months (average stay 5 months).  Volunteers will live in local communities in the north and work in schools teaching English, computers, arts, sports, etc. and tutoring children who have been so adversely impacted by katyusha rockets, destroyed homes and economic hardships.  It is expected that 250 volunteers will be recruited during the 2006-7 academic year to launch "Teach for Galilee."
   Cost per participant (for average 5 month program): $6,000
   
2. Work for Galilee
   "Work for Galilee" will begin in January 2007 with opportunities to join throughout the year.  This unique program calls for the mobilization of 250 young participants who will come to Israel for a period of 3-8 months (average stay 5 months) to support the business sector in the north that has experienced such devastation, particularly small businesses and the tourist industry.  "Work for Galilee" volunteers will serve in local communities in the north in local businesses with supervision and support provided by MASA.  This innovative, hands-on project is being closely coordinated with the Jewish Agency's initiative to provide financial support to small businesses affected by the war. It is expected that 250 young volunteers will join "Work for Galilee" during the 2006-7 academic year.
   Cost per participant (for average 5-month program): $6,000
   
3. Reinvigorating Informal Education in the Galilee
   Scheduled to be launched in Spring 2007 and to continue through the end of Summer 2007, this initiative to reinvigorate informal education in the Galilee will recruit 500 volunteers for a period of 3-5 months to work in informal education settings including day camps, overnight camps, summer schools, environmental projects, cultural exchanges, tourist sites, etc. in the north. The volunteers will be supervised and supported by the Jewish Agency as they work within educational and communal frameworks in local communities.
   Cost per participant (for average 5-month program): $5,000

B. Volunteers for Galilee 2007-8: Programs in the planning process for MASA 2007 that will begin in or rollover to the 2007-8 academic year

Promoting Northern Academia

1. Galilee Academy
   A coalition of seven regional colleges in the Galilee that will offer academic programs to MASA participants. Estimated participation: 300 young adults.
   Cost per student: $2,500 (first semester 5 month program)
2. Haifa University
   The Haifa University overseas program suffered severely from the war. Similar to the Galilee Academy, this initiative aims at developing new programs and providing scholarships for an estimated 100 new MASA students.
   Cost per student: $3,500 (first semester 5 month program)

Volunteers for Galilee – year two

Continued implementation of this major initiative with an estimated 500 participants
Cost per participant (one semester 5 month program): $3,000

Internships in Businesses in the North

A new initiative currently in the planning stages that will bring approximately 300 participants, mainly post-university age young Jewish adults, who will further their careers while boosting the economy of the north.
Cost per participant: $2,500 (one semester)

Recruitment

The Volunteers for Galilee initiative requires extraordinary and immediate marketing and recruitment efforts.  These efforts will be very broad and costly due to the short timeframe available including: a major advertising "blitz" in Jewish and secular media around the world, web-based marketing, recruiters to travel to communities, personal interviews and a data management system.

Funding Request

Volunteers for Galilee offers a unique and time-limited opportunity to impact the lives of a large percentage of Israelis who live in the north. Similarly, and no less powerfully, this program will transform the lives of thousands of young Jewish adults from around the world who want to benefit from a long-term experience in Israel and also give of themselves to their fellow Jews. These volunteers will become the backbone of their own Jewish communities in the future and will have greatly contributed to ensuring that Israel's north continues to survive and thrive.

Budget

Item	# of participants	Total cost USD
Component 1
Going North
MASA goes North	6,000	1,200,000
Relocating to the North	6,000	500,000
Component 2
A. Volunteers for Galilee 2006-7	1,000
Teach for Galilee	250	1,500,000
Work for Galilee	250	1,500,000
Reinvigorating Informal Education in the Galilee	500	2,500,000
B. Volunteers for Galilee 2007-8	1,200
Promoting Northern Academia
Galilee Academy	300
Haifa University	100
Volunteers for Galilee –  year two	500	1,500,000
Internships in Businesses in the North	300	750,000
Recruitment		1,000,000
Total cost		10,450,000

 
    
Your partnership at the level of $10,450,000 is requested to implement these unique efforts that will have major impact on the next generation of Jews in Israel and around the world.

Photo credit: Shimi Nachtailer/ Shlomy Ben Ami

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