Our Partnership with Kiryat Malachi and Ashkelon Coast

Since 1994, Jewish Federation Orange County has been partnered, in a "sister city" relationship, with the development town of Kiryat Malachi and its surrounding rural region of Ashkelon Coast. Your investment in Jewish Federation makes an enormous difference, and does a world of good, for these communities. In this photo, a member of the Jewish Federation-supported Youth Leadership project participates in an ongoing neighborhood beautification project.

A Tale of Two Tzipis

Two remarkable women, pictured above, are among the many who are transforming their lives through The Project for Single Mothers in Distress in Kiryat Malachi. Coincidentally, both are named Tzipi, the diminutive for Tzipora, Hebrew for “female bird”. Perhaps, though, it is no coincidence, as they share a common, yet tragic, history as the subjects of domestic violence; and they share a common and hopeful vision of a “better nest” for themselves and their children now and in the future. more

A Special Briefing: Social Welfare in Kiryat Malachi

In 2007, Jewish Federation Orange County hosted a meeting with Yaffa Cohen, Director of the Department of Social Welfare in Kiryat Malachi, Israel and Tali Zeno, the social worker in charge of the Project for Single Mothers in Distress (see story at right). Participants in the 2006 Mission to Israel, members of the Israel Allocations Subcommittee, members of the Federation Board and staff attended to hear first-hand about the issues, challenges and concerns in our "sister city" in Israel. more

Grants to Our Sister Communities 2007

In 2007, Jewish Federation invested over $100,000 in our sister communities of Kiryat Malachi and Ashkelon Coast:

$25,000 to the Medical Transportation Project - in partnership with the Tucson Federation's grant of $50,000, these funds will provide for a specially-equipped transport vehicle to take seriously ill patients to treatments such as kidney dialysis;

$20,000 to the Atidim program - an enrichment program for high academic achievers from at-risk socioeconomic backgrounds;

$15,000 to the Net@ program - an afterschool computer-training project through which teens become Cisco-certified IT technicians and learn to teach computer skills in their schools and communities - underwritten by our Family Philanthropy Venture Fund;  $12,000 for SELAH: Israel Crisis Management Center, jointly underwritten by Federation's Connect 2 Israel Initiative and the Family Philanthropy Venture Fund;

$11,500 for People-to-People Exchanges, such as our Summer Youth Ambassadors program; and

$11,750 for renovation of the kitchen at the Senior Day Care Center, where over 100 seniors participate in daily activities and receive hot meals; this grant underwritten by a generous donation from Steven Fainbarg.

To learn more about our Partnership with Kiryat Malachi and Ashkelon Coast, or to arrange a visit, email kathleen@jfoc.org.

Visit our Israeli Site!

Learn more about how the Jewish Agency is implementing the programs we support in our sister communities of Kiryat Malachi and Ashkelon Coast. more