Volunteers from Abroad

Groups of young people from the US and Mexico volunteer in the SPCA

The SPCA staff and the Department of Humanistic Studies are always glad to host groups from abroad, who reach us through various organizations. Last week two groups of volunteers arrived, took part in a tour of the facility, heard about the state of animal welfare in Israel and took the dogs out for walks.

The students from the US volunteering in the SPCA
The students from the US volunteering in the SPCA

American students studying in Bar Ilan University, in the one-year special program “The Israeli Experience”, visited the Society. According to Meir Bolovsky, group leader: “We are delighted to volunteer in the Society. It is a wonderful opportunity for our students to help the community and the animals in distress”.

A group of young people from “The Zionist Youth” in Mexico, who came to Israel for four months on the “Voyage Program”, decided to volunteer in the Society during their stay in Israel. “It is most encouraging to see that there are places where people really do care about animals”, said Andros Kahn, a member of the group. “As an animal lover, especially dogs, it is simply great to help organizations such as the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Israel”.

We wish to thank the group members, who will continue to volunteer in the SPCA while they are in Israel.

If you also wish to volunteer in the SPCA, to get to know the adorable animals, to comb the cats and to play with the dogs, you can attend a volunteers’ training session, which is held on a regular basis twice a week. Following the training session you can come to volunteer without prior coordination during our hours of operation. For further details, please call: *4553.

My Personal Commitment

High School youth are invited to volunteer at the SPCA for their "Personal Commitment" Project

Many high school pupils join the ranks of our loyal volunteers each year to carry out their “Personal Commitment” project, as required by the school curriculum. The youth come by prior arrangement to the Society where they have an introductory tour, during which they are given detailed explanations regarding volunteering in the Society and the various regulations. Their activities are mainly taking the dogs out for walks and giving them caring attention, an important and meaningful issue for the dogs who are forced to spend most of the day alone in their enclosures. After the initial meeting, each of the volunteers can come in his or her own spare time during the Society’s hours of activity.

If you also love animals and want to volunteer to help them, contact us for further details and to set up a time for an introductory meeting in the Society: *4553.

A day of good deeds

In the framework of the Day of Good Deeds dozens of volunteers have come to the Society

The Ruach Tova Voluntary Organization started a tradition three years ago, which earned the name of the Day of Good Deeds. In the framework of this day, which is organized for one day a year and is dedicated to helping the Israeli society, people from all over the country are invited to stop their routines for a moment in order to help someone else and to volunteer in one of the hundreds of social frameworks that are offered by the voluntary organization.

The Day of Good Deeds, which happened this year for the fourth time on March 16th, brought hundreds of volunteers, who love animals, to the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Israel. During that day the volunteers worked at painting gates, benches and fences, cleaned the yard, planted saplings and flowers, and took the dogs that were up for adoption for walks.

We wish to thank the Ruach Tova Voluntary Association, which initiated the beneficial project, the many volunteers who came and contributed their time and energy, and to Ruth Ben Ami and the volunteers from the Culo Tov Voluntary Organization in Tel Aviv, which helps people with emotional problems.

Before we part

Goodbyes and tremendous thanks to Ariella Manik, the American who came to the Society by way of the Career Israel organization

A few months ago Ariella Menick, a young woman from the United States, joined the voluntary staff of the Society. Ariella was sent to us by the Career Israel organization, which offers a special five month program for college and university graduates from all over the world, with the goal of familiarizing them with Israel, to enrich and advance them in the employment aspect. During their stay in Israel the organization supplies the participants with housing, they learn Hebrew, they tour the country and they choose to work in a business or an organization within the many fields offered to them.

Ariella, who of course chose the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Israel, very quickly fit in and became in integral part of the place. In the framework of her job at the Society, Ariella assisted in setting up the English website and in writing letters, she assisted in the ongoing care of the animals and took dogs out for walks. The jewel in the crown was her giving a temporary home to two sweet puppies.

Those puppies were abandoned shortly after they were born, and since they were unable to eat on their own they needed controlled feedings. Ariella immediately volunteered for this responsible assignment, took the pups to her residence, and there she fed them every few hours, beginning with a bottle and later with soft food. In the month that Ariella took care of the pups with tremendous devotion, they grew and put on weight and will soon by candidates for adoption.

Soon Ariella will finish the program in Israel and will return to her home in the United States with a wealth of memories and experiences in Israel. After her work at the Society she is even considering studying veterinary medicine. We want to thank Ariella from the bottom of our hearts for her great contribution to the Society, and we wish her great success in whichever path she chooses.

Because of the spirit

Students from Australia and Argentina are discovering the spirit of volunteerism at the Society

In the last few years we in the Society have been hosting many groups of young Jews from the Diaspora, and last week we were happy to host two additional groups of students from ” Taglit ” (The Birthright project), who came to us through a subsidiary company of the Jewish Agency – the Israeli Experience.

The first group numbered 40 students from Australia who belong to the Australian Student’s Union and the second group was one of 40 students from Argentina. The young people had a directed tour of the Society’s compound and afterwards engaged in voluntary activity – taking out dogs for walks, playing with cats, trimming hedges and gardening and feeding animals in the stables.

Taglit project, which was established to strengthen the connection between Israel and youth in the Diaspora, and to prevent assimilation, enables young Jews between 18 and 26 to come to Israel, and provides them with educational tours. The project is part of the Jewish Agency, which is proud to state that in its framework, within the last 8 years, about 200,000 Jewish students, from 50 different countries around the world, visited Israel. During their stay in Israel these young people visit important historical and Zionist sites and meet with Israelis of their age group – all this in order to strengthen their connection to Israel and to turn them into “information ambassadors” where they live.