Sunday, November 20th marks Universal Children’s Day. With more than 800,000 children in Israel living below the poverty line, Leket Israel and Nevet (established in January 2016 out of Leket’s Sandwich program which began in 2006), is addressing this crisis by providing food to children in school who come from home hungry and who would otherwise not receive any food during the school day.
CLICK HERE to listen to an interview with Joseph Gitler about Nevet Sandwich Program
With Leket Israel rescuing 2 million plus hot meals annually from hotels, IDF bases and corporate cafeterias, for distribution to its 195 nonprofit partners, Leket saw a need to supply hot lunches
in “last chance” high schools for kids who have fallen through the cracks in the education system. These schools were not receiving any food support and were struggling to keep their students in school. The pilot program, now serving 680 children daily, began in the Atid school in Ofakim and is now serving a total of 6 six schools in Rehovot, Jerusalem, Arad and Ramle with plans to expand further.
“These children were finding it hard to concentrate on their classes during the long school day because of their hunger. Through Leket Israel’s hot meal rescue program, these students now receive a fresh, nutritious meal daily, shared Joseph Gitler, Leket Israel’s Founder and Chairman.
In addition, Nevet is supplying 1,300,000 sandwiches a year in 120 schools throughout 47 cities and municipalities.
According to Rotem Yosef of Nevet: “Nevet’s goal is to reach every child in Israel in need of a sandwich and become a national program. In surveys conducted by Nevet with recipient schools, more than 50% of the kids say that knowing they receive a sandwich at school is what motivates them to attend and the principals reported a 90% plus reduction in violence.”
Interview was featured on iba.org.il
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