"When I ran the New York Marathon in November 2007 to support Israel and raise 42,000 euros for Keren Hayesod’s Ayalim Project, I said that if we would made it, I would go myself to work with the Ayalim volunteers,”  says Gavriel Troostwijk, a member of Keren Hayesod’s Collectieve Israel Actie Young Leadership in Holland.   The opportunity came with the traditional semi-marathon torch run organized annually on the first day of Chanukah at the KH-supported Nitzana Youth Village, near the Egyptian border.” 

“I spent the next day in Sderot and Ashkelon,” continues Gavriel.  “I very much wanted to be there, in order to better understand what the people are going through and express our solidarity with them. They just want to live normal lives and they need a lot of help and support.  When we were at the old Community Center in Sderot, talking with youngsters and staff about Keren Hayesod’s Youth Futures and Net@ programs, we heard a ‘red alert’, warning that Kassam missiles were on their way! We had to find shelter in a nearby sealed room. One of the Net@ youngsters told us that once when he was at home, a rocket hit his brother's room. Try to imagine the impact of such an experience on a 16-year-old boy!   You might think that by now residents are accustomed to this very strange situation, that it has become a kind of routine, but it influences their lives in the most profound ways imaginable.

  

“I have taken it upon myself to bring their message back to Holland. It is essential to help these people, especially now when the rocket attacks have been exacerbated by a financial crisis.  The Youth Futures program has been already severely curtailed, due to lack of funds.  We will explain the urgency of the situation to our donors and sponsors back home."