Students from all over have found unique ways to support the blind in Israel.
1) You can include a message in your Bar/Bat Mitzvah invitations about your support for a particular project – for direct fundraising.
2) A teenager in Massachusetts (who was a pitcher for his little league team) got people to sponsor him for every strike-out he made during the season. He had the best year of his life, and actually raised over $10,000!
3) Just this year, a young lady in Minnesota decided to support us. Since it is so cold there during the winter, they have huge indoor “parks” for dogs where they can run and play. She convinced the owner of one such park to allow her and a few friends to “manage” the park for a couple of Saturdays for a couple of hours each time. The owner allowed them to keep whatever they collected – as long as the checks were made out to the Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind. She raised over $1,200.
4) Some students have created presentations and given talks to other Hebrew School classes. These talks are to raise awareness, but to also encourage the kids to vote to give part of their classroom tzedakah funds toward the cost to raise a puppy. During this talk, you can also encourage other students to select us for their Bar/Bat Mitzvah project.
5) We have seen students do Dog Walking and/or provide pet washing – for a donation to the Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind.
6) A group of 11-year-old students in Massachusetts found a recipe for dog treats, and made a project out of producing them. They sold the treats at their synagogue Mitzvah Fair and ended up raising over $500 in one day.
7) Students can tie almost any service project into an opportunity to donate what they raise to the center. An ambitious project could be to run some sort of mini-marathon (dance, basketball, hockey – any sport, etc) and make the participants become sponsored by their relatives on a per hour basis. This has the potential to be an incredible fundraiser, if the participants get their own sponsors.
8) A teenager from New York went to Israel with her mother, and interviewed 12 of our graduates for a calendar that she sold at Mitzvah fairs. She raised over $7,000!
These are just a few of the countless ideas that students have come up with. It’s a chance to use your imagination and support a very worthy cause.
Here is a link to our website: http://israelguidedog.org/Mitzvah-club/