The country is bursting with initiatives and offers to host citizens from the rocket-battered Negev and Gaza Belt areas. Other helping-out projects also abound. A partial list:
In the city of Modiin, there are at least four separate initiatives to host residents of Southern Israel in their homes – one via the municipality, two through synagogues, and one by a private person.
The city of Ariel, in Shomron, will host 1st-6th graders for three days of fun and studies in the town. They will join the local schools, reside at their new schoolmates’ homes, and will take part in various recreational activities.
Pupils in 4th-8th grades from the Gush Katif temporary community in Nitzan are invited to Ofrah and Shilo, in the Binyamin-Shomron area north of Jerusalem, for two days of studies and recreation.
Some 20 families in Akko have opened their homes for families of rocket-battered Sderot and Ashkelon. The initiative was begun by the Akko Municipality, via the town’s Youth Center.
The cities of Herzliya, Tel Aviv, Hod HaSharon, Haifa, Raanana and others, and the Kibbutz Movement, are making arrangements to match up families that wish to host with families that wish to be hosted.
The Jewish Agency has set up a hot line (1-800-221-314) via which residents of the south can request to be set up with families in central and northern Israel. The Jewish Agency is also granting 4,000 shekels to each family whose house has been hit by a Kassam or Katyusha rocket.
The Ministry for the Development of the Negev and the Galilee has bused hundreds of children from the Sderot and Gaza Belt areas on a special trip to Tel Aviv, and is preparing to help match up families with potential hosts around the country. The Ministry has opened an office in the Gaza Belt area.
The Neot Kedumim Nature Reserve invites families from the South to take part in special events for free.
The northern city of Kiryat Motzkin has invited the southerners to visit the local zoo, with its special attractions, and other cultural and recreation centers, for free. The Tel Chai Museum, near the Lebanon border, will similarly be open to southerners.
The city of Haifa has opened its sports, recreation and cultural centers for free entry to residents of the south. These include the local zoo, the MadaTek Science Museum, the Naval Museums, bowling, tennis, sailing and more.
The Supersol supermarket chain is giving discounts on bread and milk products in its branches in Sderot, Ashkelon, Ofakim, Rahat, Kiryat Gat and Ashdod.
The Doral Vacation Company is offering vacation suites in the north at minimum prices for residents of the south.
The Etgar Manpower group has opened an emergency hotline to help the elderly and those living alone in the south. The number is 1-599-550-100.
Other organizations offering psychological help to those suffering from rocket attacks include Sahar (www.sahar.org.il), Otef (http://otef.yad2.co.il/otef.php), the Association for Urgent Help for Holocaust Survivors (tel: 03-5257888), and Manpower Care (tel: 03-540-4533, 050-785-9888).
An organization called The Home of Sderot is arranging buses to take people from the area to hotels and youth hostels in Arad, Nahariya and elsewhere. Organizer Daniel Nehorai can be contacted at 1599500771 or via email at <israel@sderot.us>.