ELEM/YOUTH IN DISTRESS IN ISRAEL TO HOST NYC PURIM FUNDRAISER

 

ELEM/Youth in Distress in Israel is hosting a Purim fundraiser at a luxury midtown sports club to raise funds for its ongoing emergency campaign. ELEM is the leading nonprofit in Israel, serving youth from all backgrounds since 1982. Since its inception, ELEM has supported thousands of children, teens, and young adults on every level of the risk spectrum.

The 12,500 young people ELEM serves annually encounter tremendous challenges, such as domestic violence, substance abuse, neglect, bullying, homelessness, and prostitution, in addition to the distress now exacerbated or introduced during this challenging time.

With the ongoing crisis in Israel, ELEM has expanded its impact, serving triple the number of youth since October 7th, through online support and in-person safe spaces. By October 11, ELEM had created two pop-up “Breathing Spaces” to serve youth most directly impacted by violence and displacement. The initial success of the first two spaces led to collaboration with the Ministry of Welfare for additional spaces: there are now 16 breathing spaces from the north to the south, where survivors of the Nova Music Festival and residents of decimated southern Kibbutzim find refuge and support.

ELEM’s emergency campaign will provide for the expansion of the Breathing Spaces program, from hotels for displaced people to operating in schools, as students find themselves in unfamiliar settings. The ongoing emergency campaign is also raising funds to replenish ELEM’s “Good People” support vans, two of which were destroyed at the Nova Festival.

Purim, Purpose, and Pickleball will raise awareness about ELEM’s critical wartime work with a celebratory afternoon of sports, treats, raffles, and networking. Sample New York’s best pickles, generously donated by the Pickle Guys, and taste the best of Gazala’s, the Israeli-Druze, woman-owned restaurant, alongside bourekas and more from Eran Regev’s Hamsa Kitchen.

To learn more, visit: www.elem.org. Tickets are available at bit.ly/ELEMpickleball

New York Jewish Guide