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Send Israeli Kids to Camp: In Loving Memory of Marla Bennett

We'd like to take a minute to tell you about an amazing young woman who many of us were privileged to know. She had the ability to bring a smile to the faces of every person she interacted with. She was kind, generous, loving, and an amazing friend, sister, and daughter. She was a graduate of UC Berkeley and was in Israel working on a Masters in Education when her life ended abruptly. It was a beautiful sunny Wednesday afternoon (July 31, 2002) when the world suffered a tremendous loss. Marla Bennett was murdered in a bombing by a barbaric terrorist while eating lunch with friends at the Hebrew University. You may have heard of Marla via news accounts of the tragedy, or read her poignant perspectives on living in Israel on the web; we had the privilege of knowing and loving her personally.

In the days and weeks following the fourth anniversary of this tragic event, we would like to use this opportunity, along with the current tumultuous situation in Israel, to make a meaningful donation in Marla's memory.

As you all know, the current situation in Israel is very difficult. It is troubling to all of us to see the atrocities that appear on our television screens and websites on an hourly basis. But we are thousands of miles away, so what can we do?

Here is our idea of how we can make a real impact and one that Marla would surely support:

One segment of the population that is particularly affected by this conflict is the children who live in northern Israel (within rocket range of the Lebanese border). Operation Security Blanket, sponsored by the Jewish National Fund, is sending Israeli children, who are currently cooped up in bomb shelters, to summer camps in central Israel, out of the range of rocket fire.

The cost to send one child to camp for a week is $350. In Marla's memory, we would like to be able to send at least 70 children to camp for a week. Please click on the link on this page to donate directly to the fund "Send Israeli Kids to Camp: In Loving Memory of Marla Bennett" at JNF. Any amount you can give will help us to reach our goal, whether $18 or $180 or $1800.

In addition to our individual efforts, we’d love your help in identifying organizations or families who are willing to match our fundraising efforts. We have already secured a large gift from The Samueli Foundation - for every dollar we raise, they have generously agreed to match us up to an additional $5,000. If you know of any other groups interested in joining our matching efforts, please put them in touch with us.

We encourage you to pass this along to as many of your friends, family, and co-workers as possible. If by this effort we can make a difference in the lives of the children of Israel, we will be continuing Marla's work and will have begun to repair what is currently being broken.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email any of us.

With Love,

Adam Arenson and Rebecca Rosenthal (adam.arenson@yale.edu & rprosenthal@gmail.com)
Renee and Davi Kutner (davikutner@yahoo.com & reneekutner@yahoo.com)
Emma and Eric Lefkowitz (elefkowitz@hotmail.com & emmalousam@hotmail.com)