26,500 Families Provided with Heating in Winters by Friendship Foundation
In recent news, The Friendship Foundation announced that it would be taking on the responsibility to make payments of electric bills and provide quality equipment for home heating. The organization, which belongs to the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) will be doing so through the donations that it receives. The total sum of money being given by the Friendship Foundation is close to NIS 12.7 million. This will primarily be used to pay for infrastructure, as well as personal energy bills incurred by households.
Out of this figure, NIS 10.7 million will be allocated towards ensuring heating assistance for needy families and the elderly. The foundation will be getting in touch with local authorities and social service departments to look for households that meet their requirements. In addition, NIS 660,000 will be directed towards the purchase of blankets, radiators, and heating equipment. This latest project of the Friendship Foundation is being made possible by no less than 600,000 donors of the IFCJ. While the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to dominate the State of Israel and brings about various difficulties, specifically for the needy and elderly, the Friendship Foundation is hoping to alleviate some of the hardships.
It is striving to help people in the country combat poor health and insecurity of income. Back in January of 2021, the organization carried out a study which concluded that every sixth elderly person in the country has to give up some kind of their need to pay for electricity costs during the winter season. Consequently, no less than 175,000 senior citizens revealed that they had to cut down on other needs just to keep up with their energy bills and get through the harsh winters.Meanwhile, the study reported that 153,000 elderly persons in the Jewish state had to give up on their home heating systems entirely because their economic condition was so poor.
Furthermore, relevant authorities revealed that there has been an uptick in the number of households sending in their applications to aid organizations and welfare departments in search of some much-needed help. Israel and Eden, a family with three children, was also provided assistance by the Friendship Foundation. They revealed that their oven had burned down, resulting in their gas being cut off. They did not even have enough clothes for the winter, nor could they afford to purchase boots. The family was barely getting by, as survival in the difficult winters became more and more challenging.
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein is the man behind the founding of the Friendship Foundation. Today, the organization is the largest social aid charity in the Jewish state, operating by collaborating closely with the IFCJ. Since being founded, the Friendship Foundation has managed to mobilize more than NS 5 billion and carry out its work on a number of projects. All these projects have been related to multiple areas, such as welfare, poverty, immigration, amongst other social issues.
According to the President of the Friendship Foundation, Yael Eckstein, the continuation of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the rise in heating expenses during the winter season, has placed many in an economic crisis.
