Scholarships Urgently Needed for MBI Summer in Israel and Workshop!

It is May and that means that Habonim Dror members are finalizing plans for the summer. Almost two thousand young people will participate in a Habonim program this summer, either Machaneh (camp) or the summer Israel program for tenth-graders (MBI) or the yearlong Workshop in Israel. We are turning to you because you know first-hand the life-long impact of having spent the summer at camp or going to Israel at that age.

While the impact on young people remains the same, it has become more difficult for them to participate. The cost of the Israel programs has skyrocketed, as subsidies once provided by the Jewish Agency and the Kibbutz Movement have dramatically declined. The cost of Machaneh also has increased, albeit not as sharply, and the local Habonim camp committees continue to address this.

Today the cost of the MBI summer Israel program is $7,450. The cost for the Workshop is $17,900! It should come as no surprise that we have kids who want to participate but cannot for financial reasons.

We have 100 chaverim registered for MBI this coming summer – this is only about 50% of the kids that age who were at camp last summer. There are more who could go and should go, but need our help. The drop-off is particularly steep for Canadian kids, whose tuition in the weakened Canadian dollar is almost 30% higher! We have 28 chaverim registered for Workshop and several more kids who want to go but do not have sufficient funds.

The Habonim Dror Youth Movement has already distributed over $50,000 of scholarship money for the Israel programs. In large part this is thanks to the support the youth movement receives annually from the Habonim Dror Foundation.

Last year the Foundation provided a grant to Habonim of over $60,000 to be used for scholarships for Israel programs, winter seminars and Veida.

But this is not enough to meet the current need. We are at least $20,000 short of scholarship funds for this summer and fall.

We need your help now and are asking that you make a difference for some of the chaverim and chaverot with your donation today. Every dollar you donate now will go directly to scholarships to meet this urgent need.

Shalom U’vracha,
Yudie Fishman
Chair, Habonim Dror Foundation




Donations by check can be sent to:
Habonim Dror Foundation
227 West 29 Street, #8R
New York, NY 10001

Canadian donors can contact us here for information about a Canadian tax receipt.