Делай добро- Украина or Do Good Ukraine!

I am back to the blog and from my brief hiatus in Israel! I spent time getting to know my colleagues at JDC, visited with my family, got a much needed haircut and pretty much ate everything in sight, although I swore off potatoes and cabbage for the week. I had hoped for warm weather but instead it snowed in Jerusalem and there were 60 mile per hour winds in Tel Aviv… so much for sunny skies. At least I had one beautiful afternoon at the beach when I arrived (above). Three falafels, two pounds of hummus and a ton of tabuleh later, I’m back in Ukraine which is, ironically, warmer than Israel.

I was there to meet with colleagues and other Israelis interested in my Fellowship project to solicit their advice, expertise and present funding opportunities. The project is called Делай добро- Украина (Do Good Ukraine!) and is a web-based program designed to connect nonprofit organizations and individuals with volunteer opportunities. The website will feature a live forum that allows organizations to post opportunities with real-time and immediate responses from individuals. The goals of the project are to: nurture a culture of volunteerism; create a network to manage volunteer needs using existing local systems; increase volunteer activity beginning in two pilot communities; assist organizations to attract volunteers; involve businesses with an interest in social responsibility; and, establish and infrastructure for a wide-scale national program.

This project is the first of its kind in Ukraine, a country that has a short history of volunteerism. For this reason, the program will also offer online resources and in-person training for both organizations and volunteers to make the most of their experience together. Development of the voluntary sector is a critical factor in strengthening local resources in order to assume responsibility for the unmet social and welfare needs in the community.

As a community-based project, we involved both Jewish and non-Jewish partners. Improved partnerships with other, mostly non-Jewish, organizations benefit the Jewish community in many ways. For instance, a Jewish organization that does not have HIV/AIDS or deaf-related services can refer clients to another organization through this coalition and vice versa. We hope to see the capacity and self-sufficiency of Jewish organizations grow through increased volunteerism and peer partnerships. I will look forward to sharing the website, which will be in both Russian and English, as soon as it goes live in the next month.

And, today is Jonathan’s 32nd birthday so please wish him a very happy birthday and buy him a drink (or dinner, we still don’t have a stove in the new apartment) for me if you’re in New York!! Happy birthday, Jonathan!