As you all know, we have been busy with all of our volunteering here in Yokne'am, from teaching English at Daliyot, to helping out at the youth center, and even coaching a little bit of baseball. As of last week, we added a new site to our repertoire. A man named Yochai Yitzhari has been running a food pantry called Kol Halev since 2002, and his efforts reach around 100 families (about 600 people) in the Yokne'am-Meggido area.
After recieving a $15,000 grant from our very own St. Louis Jewish Federation, our coordinator Arkady wrote an article for the Jewish Agency of Israel detailing his efforts. I won't go into the details of the program here (you can follow the link provided at the end of this entry), but needless to say, once we learned about Yochai we were eager to join him.
The work we do isn't particularly hard, but it is certainly rewarding. If you've worked in a food pantry, you know the drill - gather the food and bag it up. The crew working there is a very warm and inviting group, and they made it easy for us to jump right in and start helping. Even though the work is simple, it's nice to be able to step back and see exactly what you did that day, as opposed to the more abstract results from teaching.
It's also great working with Yochai - the 65 year old former naval commander is full of life and energy, and you can tell how much he truly loves the work he is doing. It hasn't been uncommon for us this year to encounter people who are jaded from years of work, but Yochai is truly passionate. As he told us after driving us home (he personally is driving us to and from Kol Halev each week), his "life is volunteering", and he loves being able to provide the children of the community with food each week. It may just be for a few hours a week, but I think I can speak for Andi and Tali when I say we are excited to join his efforts!
Jewish Agency article: "Former Naval Commander Dedicates His Life to Helping the Needy"
St. Louis Jewish Federation article: "JFed Grant Pays for Food to Poor in Yokne'am"
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