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   Dear Friends:At a time when Israel is confronting grave threats to its security, it is also facing a growing threat from within. Poverty and unemployment have left Israelis from all walks of life in deep financial despair. 1 in 10 Israelis is unemployed and 1 in 4 Israeli children live below the poverty line. In a country of just over 6 million people, 530,700 children are living below the poverty line-an increase of 50,000 children in just one year. It is projected that in 2003 the number of children living in poverty may rise to over 600,000. To address the immediate and long-term needs of Israel's poor, WIZO has established a Poverty Fund. The needs are great, but so are the opportunities to help. WIZO maintains 800 projects in Israel, providing educational and social services to tens of thousands of Israeli children and adults on a daily basis. With the virtual collapse of the Israeli economy over the past two years, WIZO has been increasingly called upon by the families whom it serves to provide more. Many families are unable to pay even reduced tuition for their children at WIZO day care centers around Israel. Children from families in distress who live at WIZO's residential schools are coming home on weekends to find households without enough food, and family members who are lacking basic necessities such as adequate clothing and school supplies. The WIZO Poverty Fund will ensure that no child is forced to drop out of a WIZO day care center or school due to lack of financial means. The fund will also meet the immediate needs of families all over Israel-food, medical and school supplies and clothing. On a long-term basis, the fund will provide the educational support which these families need to break out of the cycle of poverty. Please give generously. The people of Israel are counting on you HELENA GLASER President World WIZO |
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Limor, age 3, attends a WIZO day care center in Jerusalem. She is the youngest of four children. Unfortunately she is experiencing first hand the trauma that unemployment can inflict on a family. Her father, an electrician by profession, was recently laid off his job by the building contractor for whom he was working. The decline in the standard of living of the family was drastic and immediate, not only affecting the finances of the family, but their health as well. Limor's father developed high blood pressure and has often become prone to fits of rage.