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I have been an observer and I feel a bit intimidated writing this because for eight years I've been in awe of the great work that goes on here; the creative side as well as the great volunteering that I hear about.
I started a program in Israel and I just wanted to tell y'all about it as perhaps someone out there may want to duplicate it and spread the smiles around.
Being new in Israel I found out 3 important things:
I've combined the three with a Balloontwisting and Chessed chug.
For those non Hebrew speakers:
Chessed means an act of kindness
Chug means club.
For 25 shekel (around 5 dollars) per child, I teach balloon twisting to kids ages 7 to 11. Every month we go to a hospital, or Orphanage or senior center.
This has been going on for almost three months and it is so rewarding. You have to keep in mind that most families cannot afford to pay top dollar for balloon twisting. SO having three or four Chugs with five to ten kids in it DOES add up.
It also is great for marketing as newspapers love to show this stuff. The BEST and most rewarding aspect are seeing the faces of the kids... the little twisters AND the little children that are sick. The Chug members really love performing chessed and love going to perform. The children in the hospitals or the seniors almost never see balloon sculptures, because people in Israel usually can't afford it.
Well, thanks for listening and if you're ever in Israel and would like to drop in and host the chug or come to perform chessed, drop me a line.
Jay Akselrud (Yudie Ballooney)
Balloontwister.com
Jayaxe2@yahoo.com
