News

Becoming a Bar or Bat Mitzvah is an important life milestone and a mitzvah project is a wonderful opportunity to mark this special event by making difference to one’s community and to Israel.

The Canadian Friends of the Tel Aviv Foundation have launched a junior board to focus on innovation, science and technology projects.

The ‘Neighborhood as a City’ program – initiated by The Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Charitable Foundation (UK) – has been hailed as a tremendous success. Almost 5,000 residents benefitted from the program, which was designed to strengthen the neighborhoods involved and support individuals through the early, formative stages of life: ‘Early Childhood’, ‘Empowerment in Education’, ‘Teens’, and ‘Young Adults’ and ‘Employment’. At a community level, social cohesion, civic responsibility and cooperation between social service agencies increased significantly.

Construction continues apace at the Sylvan Adams National Velodrome, which is taking shape in northern Tel Aviv. The Velodrome will feature in the international cycling tournament, Giro d’Italia, which commences in Israel for the first time in May before continuing to Rome. With local and international media teams visiting the Velodrome, there is tremendous excitement about the opportunity to showcase Tel Aviv and Israel through the international tournament and, longer term, to impact cycling, sport and health more broadly.

In partnership with the German government, the White City Center seeks to conserve and revive the World Heritage-listed Bauhaus White City. Currently undergoing a unique ‘Open Renovation’ involving hands-on community participation, the center has attracted hundreds of visitors for tours, demonstrations and other events over recent months. As the center prepares for 2019 Year of the Bauhaus, visitors have enjoyed the unique opportunity to peep through the cracks, uncover the layers of time, and experience a historical building under renovation.

Thanks to the generosity of Moshe Eliav, the newly upgraded Eliav Gardens were recently opened to the public. Renovated in memory Janet Eliav and designed in partnership with local residents, the park features state-of-the-art play equipment and a wheelchair-accessible gazebo. The park was inaugurated in a ceremony with Mayor Ron Huldai, CEO Hila Oren, three generations of the Eliav family, and 300 guests from the neighborhood.

Thanks to the generosity of The Shapiro Foundation, Unitaf received a life-saving donation which will enable the renovation of the childcare center in the Central Bus Station and the opening of 10 new after-school clubs for preschool children. This will rescue hundreds of children from the appalling conditions of ‘pirate babysitters’. The Municipality matched the donation by funding 10 after-school clubs serving low socioeconomic Jewish communities in neighborhoods in southern Tel Aviv. Mayor Huldai expressed his appreciation to the Shapiro Foundation and his support for quality education for all Tel Aviv residents, regardless of their status.

Thanks to the generosity of The Stella and Yoel Carasso Family Foundation, HEMDA was awarded a donation over three years. The Carasso Family Foundation (which demonstrates genuine inter-generational philanthropy) focuses on technology education and vocational training for young adults (18+) as a means to achieve social mobility and bridge gaps in society. Although HEMDA caters for high school students, the Foundation recognizes that investing in STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in school is key to achieving their goal.

Friends and partners of the Tel Aviv Foundation gathered in Mayor Huldai’s office for a celebratory lighting of the Channukiah.

The Tel Aviv Foundation distributed 80 scholarships for the 2016-2017 academic year to the graduate students of Tel Aviv-Yafo high schools, looking to pursue their first academic degree at a recognized higher education institution. These scholarships were possible thanks to the generosity of Yossi Bar Natan, a dear friend of the City of Tel Aviv and a board member of the Tel Aviv-Yafo Foundation.