Aid organizations plead for funds
Non-profit groups surviving mostly on donations hit by global economic crisis, urge government to earmark additional funding
Following an emergency meeting held by the organizations over the weekend, a list of demands was formulated and sent to the Finance, Welfare, and Industry, Trade and Labor Ministries.
In the letter, the organizations' heads appealed to the Knesset's Finance Committee, proposing several recommended steps. The letter followed a previous appeal sent to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, as reported by Ynet this week.
One of the organizations that joined the appeal is the Israel Association for Immigrant Children (IAIC,) which handles the cases of 15,000 immigrant children nationwide.
CEO Eli Zarkhin told Ynet that if the IAIC does not receive outside funding by January he will be forced to lay off a quarter of his staff (50 employees,) a move that could harm thousands of children.
"No one will send counselors to help these children in the middle of the night in my stead," he said. "The Israeli government must take responsibility and support us, because otherwise it is simply harming itself."
Zarkhin claims his organization's financial troubles are a result of the global economic crisis. "Many people have either stopped supporting us or decreased their support significantly, and those who suffer the consequences are the children who are the future of this country," he said.
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Another organization facing difficult times is Yedid, the Association for Community Empowerment. Yedid manages 24 centers across the country that take care of 35,000 Israelis in need of legal aid pertaining to financial and educational issues.
Although the Association has reported an increase in inquiries due to the economic crisis, Yedid's Deputy Director, Ran Melamed, told Ynet that the organization has been forced to downsize due to lack of funding.
"Following the Second Lebanon War the prime minister has announced that civil aid organizations are an inseparable part of Israeli society; therefore, the organizations cannot be ignored. It would constitute a betrayal by the government of the institutions that help to maintain the wholeness of Israeli society," he said.
Aside from the additional millions in funding, the organizations requested various tax benefits from the government, some of which they claimed would be beneficial to the State as they would limit unemployment.
The organizations also appealed for a State-funded plan to increase donations, including additional tax benefits for hefty donors and the introduction of a fast track method to the recognizance of aid organizations by the Tax Authority.
