During Israel’s National Emergency
Nature Israel provides support for the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI), Israel’s oldest and largest independent nonprofit environmental organization. As a part of the fabric of Israeli Society, SPNI has housed over 1,000 families from the Gaza envelope and others who were required to evacuate from danger zones but had no government funded shelter because they live further than 4 kilometers from Gaza, like S’derot. SPNI housed these families for free in its field schools in various safe locations across Israel, and gave them full board and an astounding array of educational and recreational activities and services, including laundry. The photo above is of families sheltering at our Mitzpe Ramon field school.
During this very difficult time, when the State of Israel is in a state of emergency, the Education Department of SPNI is working to create and provide educational and emotional respites for these families. SPNI’s belief is, that in this period, when most means of communication are broadcasting the horrors of war, without filters, and the discourse everywhere is difficult, the exposure of children to inappropriate content, is a real danger. So SPNI is producing alternative activities and content with the tools at our disposal. This includes:
- Nature activities and loving care for over 1,000 families using field schools as emergency shelters in the days and weeks following October 7th
- Pop-up public schools for Israel’s internally displaced refugees at our Ein Gedi, Eilat, and Hatzeva Field Schools
- Bird ringing and guided tours for thousands of Israelis at our International Birding and Research Center Eilat and the Nili and David Jerusalem Bird Observatory
- Free half-day nature tours to over 5,000 Israelis across the country
- Free 3-day overnight camps in the desert for internally displaced 16-18-year-olds from southern Israel who still have no school
- Free day trips in nature taking hundreds of internally displaced families as a form of eco-therapy
- Daily webinars broadcast since October 8th, watched by over 30,000 people from pre-schoolchildren to retirees
SPNI has taken on this commitment for humanitarian reasons. This is also a time when SPNI’s income from hikes, field schools and activities (ordinarily the majority of our income) has plummeted to zero. We are turning to you, our friends and supporters in Israel and abroad, to help the families most in need in these unprecedented days of national danger and trauma. Please consider supporting this endeavor, this humanitarian mission, even above and beyond your regular giving.
Current Initiatives
Sheltered families free of charge
Since October 11, we have housed families evacuated from the war zone in two of our southern field schools; 50 families in Eilat and 35 in Mitzpe Ramon. The families are from Sderot, Ofakim, and other rural villages close to the Gaza border.
Provided educational and recreational content for evacuees across the country
SPNI guides have provided regular activities to pre-schoolers, school children, youth and adults, contributing an alternative reality and stability to children who have lived through traumatic events. Families of evacuees in our field schools participated in short tours and trips, lectures on nature and astronomy, and activities related to nature and the environment.
Opened special rooms for mothers and babies
In each of the field schools, we opened a special room for mothers and babies, stocked with all sorts of baby supplies, warm staff people, and good advice.
Housed all sorts of groups
In our Alon Tavor field school in the lower Galilee, and at Ein Gedi on the Dead Sea, we housed families of newly arrived Bnei Menashe Indian Jews who were evacuated from an absorption center on the northern border. At the Eilat and Mitzpe Ramon field schools, we housed Ethiopian Jewish families. At our schools in Achziv on the Mediterranean coast, and that the Golan school in Katzin, we housed reserve duty units that have been called up.
Supplied comfort and well-being to the sheltering communities
In Eilat, large group of Ethiopian immigrants was stressed because though the food was plentiful, there was no injera – the Ethiopian sourdough bread which is an essential staple of the cuisine. Within a few hours, the field school director found a caterer who could deliver injera daily. The educational staff and volunteers also helped out in the kitchen, with maintenance, and generally tend to any and all needs of the families.
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Protecting Israel’s Environment
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