This campaign is a unique opportunity to support the connections between Jewish communities and lone soldiers serving in the Israel Defense Forces.
Over 10 years ago, our founder, Drew Leach, made Aliyah and served as a lone soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. While she had meaningful service, she missed the connection to her hometown. While in her service, she received a surprise care package from her uncle’s congregation, Bet Shalom, in Minnesota. The package contained goodies and letters from students, which lifted her moral and pushed her to stay strong. Inspired by her experience, Drew founded M’ever LaYam in 2016 to create meaningful connections between Lone Soldiers in the IDF and students in their hometowns. We completed a successful pilot program in Spring of 2017, and have over 45 soldiers who have signed up for the 2017-2018 school year!
M’ever LaYam brings home to Israel for lone soldiers who made Aliyah from across the West Coast and North America. We do this by connecting each soldier with Jewish students and youth organizations from their communities. These connections are strengthened through monthly video sharing, face-to-face meet-ups, and the delivery in Israel of personalized care packages put together by the students for Chanukah and Yom Ha’atzmaut. Packages are filled with items that the soldier requests- which makes them both different and uniquely special. We cut through the red tape in sending packages. We handle cargo shipping, clear customs and the Israeli health ministry, settle Israeli VAT tax and personally deliver each package to the soldier’s home in Israel.
In August of 2017, over 45 lone soldiers made Aliyah from the West Coast. 30 of these soldiers have been paired with Jewish organizations in over 8 states, but there are still soldiers in need of connection, which means there are no students to fill their care packages. With this campaign, you can step in and be their connection to home.
While there are many programs in Israel that provide support for lone soldiers, we’re stepping in be their link to home! 100% of the funds raised through this campaign will be allocated towards your donation level.
We are currently connecting and supporting 50 lone soldiers from:
Seattle, WA (1)
Portland, OR (2)
The Bay Area of San Francisco (14)
Los Angeles & the San Fernando Valley (14)
Long Beach, CA (1)
Manhattan Beach, CA (1)
Irvine, CA (2)
San Diego, CA (4)
Santa Barbara, CA (1)
Las Vegas, NV (1)
Salt Lake City, UT (1)
Phoenix, AZ (3)
Tucson, AZ (1)
Dallas, TX (1)
Ann Arbor, MI (1)
New Jersey (1)
New York (1)
If you fulfill care packages for a soldier, we will tell you who your package went to and what was in it.
If you ship a package, we’ll tell you who received it.
If you subsidize a school, we’ll tell you who you are supporting and invite you to see their videos.
If you sponsor a school, you can choose an organization or we can assign one, we’ll share the monthly videos with you and keep you updated of their lone soldier’s progress!
We are grateful for the incredible partnership with Garin Tzabar and El Al Cargo.
*Pictured above: Yael, a lone soldier, together with students from Hillel at University of Rhode Island’s Birthright trip. Yael was connected to the students throughout our Pilot program, met them in December 2016, on campus at URI, and on their birthright trip.
Today was a really special day. Over the last month, students at our participating schools and youth groups across the West Coast have been decorating and packing boxes filled with goodies for their soldiers. Today, we put all of the boxes on a pallet and they started the long journey to Israel. We still need your help to sponsor schools, fill boxes, and cover shipping for our remaining soldiers who do not have connections yet!