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Good Deeds, Great Experiences: WIZO Staff Lends a Helping Hand on Good Deeds Day

From playground duties in WIZO Day Care Centers to gardening and painting at WIZO schools, youth villages and Parents Home, the WIZO team exemplified WIZO’s volunteering spirit

April 02, 2019

For the second consecutive year, over 50 enthusiastic staff members from World WIZO's Headquarters, as well as members of the World WIZO Executive, rolled up the sleeves of their light blue WIZO t-shirts for Israel’s annual Good Deeds Day (Yom Maasim Tovim), a national day for volunteering and doing good deeds for others.

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From playing with and supervising children at WIZO day care centers around the country to gardening and painting at WIZO's schools, youth villages, Parents Home and Tel Aviv headquarters, the team exemplified WIZO’s volunteering spirit.

Doing Good Deeds for the Benefit of WIZO's Children, Youth and Seniors

This year on Good Deeds Day the WIZO team pitched in at six different WIZO day care centers, three WIZO schools and youth villages, Neve WIZO (WIZO's Foster Family Center), WIZO's Parents Home and at WIZO's Tel Aviv Headquarters.

At WIZO's House of Dreams (Biranit), Mina & Everard Goodman (Remez), and Ichilov day care centers, the WIZO team read books to the children and played with them. At the Mathhildre Nahmias Hassid (Magen Avraham) comprehensive day care center in Tel Aviv, the children drew pictures with the WIZO team and sang and danced together.

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 Other WIZO staff members lent at hand at the CHW Hadassim Youth Vilage in Even Yehuda, WIZO Nir Ha'emek Youth Village in Afula and the WIZO Municipal Technological High School in Rehovot. At CHW Hadassim, the WIZO team helped out in the greenhouse, picked tomatoes, and did general gardening. They also sampled some of Hadassim's delicious natural honey made on site.

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Meanwhile, WIZO's IT Division spent Good Deeds Day at the WIZO Nir Ha'emek Youth Village where they planted trees along the youth village's fence.

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At the WIZO Municipal Technological High School in Rehovot, the WIZO team painted the schools handrails, while at WIZO's Parents Home in Tel Aviv World WIZO Chairperson Prof. Rivka Lazovsky, WIZO Parents Home Chairperson Riki Cohen and World WIZO Marketing & PR Division Chairperson Tricia Schwitzer joined the WIZO staff in painting the outer fence.

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At WIZO’s Tel Aviv headquarters, the team painted the WIZO cafeteria’s walls, brightening up the dining hall.

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Good Deeds Day Around the Word: 93 Countries, Over 2.5 Million Volunteers

Good Deeds Day was marked in Israel this year on April 2nd, in advance of the Passover holiday, while International Good Deeds Day was marked globally on April 7th. Local municipalities, companies, and nonprofit organizations, including WIZO, from all around the country participated by organizing special activities in their communities, renovating or painting buildings, building community gardens, and volunteering in many other ways for populations in need.

First launched in Israel in 2007, in just over a decade Good Deeds Day has spread to 93 counties across the globe with over 2.5 million participants volunteering worldwide. While Israel's first Good Deeds Day in 2007 drew 7,000 participants, by 2016 the number of participants in Israel soared to 1.5 million.

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Good Deeds Day: "A great feeling to be able to give back to WIZO"

Participation in Good Deeds Day had a profound effect on the WIZO staff.

"Good Deeds Day was very meaningful for us," Chava Alpert Levanon from WIZO's IT division said. "We toured the WIZO Nir Ha'emek Youth Village and then we planted trees along the fence of the village. In the future these trees will increase the production of honey produced in the village. It was so rewarding to be able to make such an important contribution to WIZO."

Luana Homsani, a volunteer intern in World WIZO's Fundraising Division, pitched in at WIZO's Ichilov day care center in Tel Aviv on Good Deeds Day. "I feel so fulfilled and lucky to be part of this amazing organization," she said. "It was such a great feeling to be able to give back to WIZO by lending a hand at the day care center."

"Social involvement is the spirit of WIZO's values," Dr. Zohar Shalhevet, Director of World WIZO's Leadership & Global Relations Division, said. "Today we proudly proved once again that giving begins at home. We had the opportunity to contribute to our organization, to feel a sense of belonging and pride and to be a model for social involvement in a different, creative and very hands-on way."  

"As Chairperson of World WIZO, an organization that supports, enables and operates networks of volunteers to help children, women and youth, I salute all the WIZO staff that took part in Good Deeds Day,World WIZO Chairperson Prof. Rivka Lazovsky said. "Our movement's work perfectly encompasses the values of Good Deeds Day. Our good deeds are carried out every day, at our Day Care Centers, in our youth villages and schools, in our women’s centers, at our shelters and in all of our hundreds of institutions, where we assist all those who need us and give opportunities and conditions for a better life. Good Deeds Day is a day we should all celebrate WIZO's good deeds and look to the future for new challenges and new projects to continue our sacred work and reaffirm our commitment to Tikkun Olam."

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Photo credits: WIZO