JERUSALEM, January 22, 2019 – Sixty-five runners raised $260,000 for the Afikim educational charity. Jerusalem’s Deputy Mayor Elisha Peleg dispatched the runners January 9th at the First Station. The runners were a group of volunteers featuring religious, secular, immigrants, students, businessmen and rabbis. Halfway between Jerusalem and Eilat, the runners met a group of Afikim children. The runners ran a total of 360 kilometers (216 miles) and reached Eilat on Friday, January 11.

Teaneck native Sam Weinstein said, “What a magical experience. From following a trail of glow sticks through the desert under the stars, to crossing streams and large puddles in the back of a pickup truck, it was very far from the street roads I used to run on back in the States. I couldn’t have done it for a better cause or a better organization. I witnessed firsthand the authenticity and impact that Afikim has on its audience while volunteering down in Kiryat Malachi during my years in college.”

In 2008, Israeli educator and child services administrator Moshe Lefkowitz launched the Jerusalem-based non-profit charity Afikim, as a way to address the enormous child poverty crisis in Israel.

Afikim services 528 impoverished youth in 14 learning centers throughout Israel, mainly in Jerusalem. It is unique in that parents also receive family survival counseling. The organization was created to address the enormous child poverty crisis in Israel, especially with the olim. Families are kept intact rather than going to foster care. This is accomplished by providing hot meals, tutoring, life skills training, counseling and other programs, so that youth under economic stress are nurtured to become successful members of Israeli society.

Additional information on Run 4 Afikim can be found at http://run4afikim.org/