JNF to Take 300 Participants on This Year’s Alternative Spring Break to Israel

Contact: Rebecca Kahn • JNF Campus Programs Manager • 212-879-9305 ext. 248 •rkahn@jnf.org

November 14, 2007 -- New York, NY -- Looking to take a successful program to the next level, Jewish National Fund (JNF)  has announced it will be taking 300 Jewish college students and young adults to Israel on its Alternative Spring Break (ASB) this coming March. This will be a 43% increase over last year’s participation which included students from more than 65 universities such as Columbia University, University of Central Florida, Tulane University, Indiana University, and NYU, just to name a few.

Spread over three weeks to correspond to the different vacation schedules of the American universities, 100 students will go each week. Most of the work will be in the Negev Desert where participants will engage in physical and social activities targeted at having the greatest impact on the community. Half a day  will be spent in and around Jerusalem.

This will be the third year for ASB which has earned media attention -- it was showcased last year on MTV’s “The Amazing Break,” -- and accolades from its participants -- “ASB was one of the most fulfilling and enjoyable programs that I have participated in,” said Ben Schulman of the University of Maryland.

Now, it has earned the attention of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation (CLSFF), which has granted JNF $100,000 towards the trip.

Last winter, CLSFF took over 500 college students and young adults to northern Israel to help rehabilitate the region after the war with Hezbollah. Designed specifically as a response to the war, filling a very particular need at a very particular time, the program will not be replicated.

“However, as the result of the experience,” said Lisa Eisen, National Director of CLSFF, “the Foundation has looked more seriously at strategic funding of Jewish service opportunities for Jewish youth and young adults in Israel and elsewhere. JNF’s ASB works to instill an ethic and spirit of service into Jewish college students.”

According to a recent Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies study, while more than 100,000 college students and young professionals have taken their first trip to Israel on birthright israel, it is the second trip to Israel that creates a lasting connection. “The need to connect Diaspora Jewry to Israel is greater than ever," said JNF CEO Russell F. Robinson, "especially among our youth. ASB was created to imprint the participants with a lasting connection to the Jewish State. And our formula is working.”

Said Lauren Anderson, a past ASB participant from Emory University: “As we cut brush in a JNF forest outside Jerusalem and face-painted at a children’s Purim carnival in S’derot, I learned more about the possibility and power of American Jews’ impact on Israel than I ever could have through countless seminars and tzedakah projects in the States. Sitting on the hospital bed of a three-year-old cancer patient and watching his face light up as I made him mini basketballs out of molding clay is an image of Israel that will stay with me far longer than any view of the Galilee or Massada.”

Alternative spring break trips are a growing trend on college campuses; JNF's ASB allows Jewish students to participate in this trend and also satisfies the yearning to go back to Israel. This unique experience will not only help the communities in which they work, it will form a lasting bond between the participants and the State of Israel.

In addition to the hands-on experience ASB offers, participants are responsible for raising a minimum of $1,050 forging a connection of a different sort. Through an on-line registration process, www.jnf.org/springbreak, participants can raise funds by asking friends and relatives to donate. Monies raised will go towards JNF’s Blueprint Negev campaign supporting Israel’s newest generation of pioneers in developing, inhabiting and preserving the Negev Desert -- Israel’s last frontier. 

“I have never known a world without Israel,” said Sam Goldberg of Columbus, OH, who participated in last year’s ASB. “During that time I have asked Israelis to do what I would not do myself. Over the course of a few days, with the help of JNF, I did what I could to put a brick in the wall. Piece by piece we will continue to build Israel.” 

Captions: On last year's ASB, 210 participants from all over the country cleared forests (top) and painted bomb shelters (bottom) to help make the north home again after the war with Hezbollah.

 # # #

JEWISH NATIONAL FUND (JNF) began in 1901 as a dream and vision to reestablish a homeland in Israel for Jewish people everywhere. Jews the world over collected coins in iconic JNF Blue Boxes, purchasing land and planting trees until ultimately, their dream of a Jewish homeland was a reality. JNF gives all generations of Jews a unique voice in building a prosperous future for the land of Israel and its people.

JNF embodies both heart and action; our work is varied in scope but singular in benefit. We strive to bring an enhanced quality of life to all of Israel’s residents, and translate these advancements to the world beyond. JNF is greening the desert with millions of trees, building thousands of parks, creating new communities and cities for generations of Israelis to call home, bolstering Israel’s water supply, helping develop innovative arid-agriculture techniques, and educating both young and old about the founding and importance of Israel and Zionism.

JNF is a registered 501(c)(3) organization and United Nations NGO, which continuously earns top ratings from charity overseers.

For more information on JNF, call 888-JNF-0099 or visit www.jnf.org.