Fall is nearly here with cold weather just around the corner. We are looking for the following items:

Socks
Winter gloves
Scarves/neck warmers
Toques
Men’s underwear, especially sizes small and medium
Women’s underwear
Long underwear (men’s and women’s)
Sleeping bags and blankets
T-shirts (large and extra large preferred)
Rain ponchos and waterproof jackets
Jeans (Mens) sizes 30 – 38
Mens shoes sizes 8-12
Razors (2 blade strongly preferred)
Polysporin
Shampoo
Brushes

To [...]

Welcome to Three Days on the Street.
For the next three days we encourage you to think about homelessness and all those that don’t have a home. Homelessness in a rich nation such as Canada is not necessary.
For the next three days we are having events that we would like you to attend.
Tonight we are [...]

Let us take care of your Rosh Hashanah mailing.  Tax receipts are issued for all card donations.

Call our office today or click on the link to send sweet wishes to your friends, family and colleagues.
This beautiful and inspiring card features original artwork by Ve’ahavta’s Founding Director, Avrum Rosensweig.

In the past month our volunteers and staff have packed and delivered over 1,500 Kinder Kits to local partners in the GTA. Here is a testimonial from a volunteer that completed a delivery of sponsored Kinder Kits:
The reception for the Kinder Kits was overwhelming.
The Rabbi could not believe the generosity and care in organization that [...]

Click to sponsor a Kinder Kit today!

The Ve’ahavta Street Academy (VSA) wrapped up today. Our students graduated.
VSA, is a school for those who are homeless or near homeless. Ve’ahavta (www.vehavta.org) launched it at the end of June and it has been running until today (August 19th). Essentially VSA is an environment where we taught life skills (writing, finances, health and nourishment [...]

Ve’ahavta: The Canadian Jewish Humanitarian and Relief Committee is working quickly to develop a Jewish response to the crisis through a Pakistan Flood Relief Fund. A direct supply of aid and donor-supported relief projects have commenced based on the Jewish principle of Tikun Olam by providing life-saving food, clothing, medicine, and other resources as [...]

Pakistan is currently suffering from the most devastating flooding of recent history. At least 1,600 are dead, over one fifth of the country is under water, and more than 6,000 villages and towns destroyed. As victims brace for more flooding, up to 20 million have been affected, with millions displaced. While the scale of the [...]

Ve’ahavta Street Academy is winding down. We are holding our graduation on Thursday. The response from the nine graduates of the inaugural Academy class was very positive. Many students are moving on to other educational programs in September, and are excited about doing so.
Ve’ahavta will hold a Ve’ahavta Street [...]

Mike Riley, a Ve’ahavta Street Academy student, and other share their struggle for financial independence.
Read the article online: Fix welfare rules, panel urges province by Laurie Monsebraaten, Social Justice Reporter, The Toronto Star
“Every day is a struggle with no food in the fridge, dirty laundry piling up and no cable in my TV,” Riley says. [...]

Date of Commencement: October 2010

Date of Completion: June 2011
Position Description:

Serve as Ve’ahavta liaison to the project partners and to the volunteers
Be present each week at the homework club from beginning to end (approximately 2 hrs/week)
Transport donated supplies from Ve’ahavta to homework club as needed
Provide on-site orientation for new Ve’ahavta volunteers who join program late
Provide [...]

The Lita and Mikey Ledbury Homework Club
Commitment: 3.5 hrs/week beginning October 2010 and ending June 2011
Position Description:

Provide on site supervision for learners who are students at Ledbury Park Elementary and Middle School and participants in the Lita and Mikey Ledbury Homework Club from 3:30 pm until 6 pm each Wednesday.
Actively encourage students to participate [...]

City of Beit Shemesh
1 Av 5770
Hazon Yeshayah and Ve’Ahavta Canada
Greetings:
RE: A Special Thank You
It is our privilege to express to your organizations our most heartfelt appreciation for the very important project “Backpack for every Child”.  Because of this blessed initiative many disadvantaged students will be able to begin the new school year with the proper [...]

Today Ron Maclean spoke to our students and some board members, at the Veahavta Street Academy (VSA).
He spoke for two hours drawing upon stories from his humble beginnings, the 26 Stanley Cups he has covered, the Olympics he has attended and his close relationship with Don Cherry.
He told us about the affect [...]

Read the article online: Ex-addict puts poverty behind her by Laurie Monsebraaten, Social Justice Reporter, The Toronto Star
Click here to download the PDF.

Ve’ahavta Israel is proud to announce the landing and distribution of Kinder Kits in our Homeland, Israel.
This past Wednesday morning Avrum and Kirill, who were in Israel at the time, received word that the 3,000 Kinder Kits would be made available to hand out to impoverished children living across Israel through our partners, Hazon Yeshaya [...]

Are you interested in becoming an Ve’ahavta Site Coordinator for one of our International Projects? Ve’ahavta is always looking for exceptional individuals with volunteer management skills and field experience working with community based development programs in the Caribbean and/or East and Southern Africa to commit to managing our overseas volunteers in the field. [...]

Be part of our overseas Kinder Kits project in East Africa
Ve’ahavta will be recruiting up to 4 volunteers and 1 site coordinator for a two week placement in East Africa in September/October as part of our Kinder Kit distribution project. Volunteers will be assisting in receiving the Kinder Kits shipment and distributing supplies throughout the [...]

Ve’ahavta would like to express our gratitude to all the schools and groups for their enthusiasm and support in the Kinder Kit Project. In May and June new and gently used supplies were collected in locker dumps in six schools across Toronto. These supplies will be used provide underprivileged children will the educational materials [...]

Our June 2010 Guyana team returned home this weekend. Over the past two weeks Ve’ahavta volunteers, Bekkie Vineberg (Site Coordinator), Dr. Sandy Buchman (physician), Seth Buchman (support) , Victoria Siu (pharmacy), Sarah Wilson (paramedic), and Sue Rebick (nurse) have been in Guyana on a medical mission. You can read more about their journey in [...]

Things are shaping up nicely for the official launch of the Ve’ahavta Street Academy (VSA). This has been an amazing journey for me as the Founder/Director. I am very honored and proud to be part of the Ve’ahavta team and look forward to an action packed summer with the students of VSA. Thank you to [...]

On Sunday June 20th, 2010 Ve’ahavta’s Outreach Team lead by Perry Howell, Outreach Worker, handed out gifts to our fathers’ on the street. It was understood that challenges were to be expected during the presentation of these gifts as for some men on the street being a father in the position they are in may [...]

Ve’ahavta is proud to support Israel during this difficult time by sending 3,000 Kinder Kits to underprivileged children in Israel. This will ensure that they not only receive the proper nutrition but also the education supplies necessary for them to succeed academically.
The value of education and freedom has sustained us as a [...]

We are proud to announce the inauguration of The Ve’ahavta Street Academy (VSA), a school for people living on or near the street. VSA was designed and will be overseen by the talented, Theresa Schrader, the winner of Ve’ahavta’s Creative Writing Contest for the Homeless in 2005.
Ve’ahavta is interested in presenting our vision of VSA [...]

Thank you to all the participants, donors, and volunteers of the 2010 Great T.O. Challenge! With your support this year’s event raised over $50,000 for Ve’ahavta’s homeless outreach initiatives.
A special thank you to the organizing committee of the GTO Challenge: Fran Grundman & David Taras (Co-Chairs), Maura Cooperberg, Shauna Merkur, Lisa Richman, Nancy Soberano, [...]

Ve’ahavta would like to express our gratitude to all the community members and groups for their enthusiasm and support for the Kinder Kit Project. In April and May we collected supplies and donations to send 3,000 Kinder Kits to Israel. The kits are now on their way to Israel so that needy children will be [...]

We are experiencing a higher than usual volume of donations and supplies. We need volunteers to sign-up for our on-call volunteer list to help with deliveries of supplies to us and shipments of donations out.
Please email volunteerinfo@veahavta.org to sign up.

Ve’ahavta will be recruiting up to 4 volunteers and 1 site coordinator for a two week placement in Israel this June as part of our Kinder Kit distribution project.  Volunteers will also be volunteering with Hazon Yeshaya Humanitarian Network in Jerusalem, assisting with programs that provide support to Israel’s poorest citizens.  We are looking for [...]

It is with great excitement that we announce Ve’ahavta’s Coffee House event for its 9th Annual Creative Writing Contest for People Living On or Near the Streets of Toronto and Vancouver.
Please join us at this *free event, meet our winning contestants, and listen to them read their riveting stories from life on the streets and [...]

Repairing the World (Tikun Olam) Through Volunteerism, Kindness & Building Global Bridges
Ve’ahavta: Canada’s Central Address for Tikun Olam
VE’AHAVTA NEWS
Kinder Kit Project Update
Ve’ahavta would like to express our gratitude to the community for your enthusiasm and support in the Kinder Kit Project. Collectively, you have sponsored 4,356 Kinder Kits to date!
Our main channels of distribution for [...]

Through Canadian Feed the Children, Ve’ahavta transferred $30,000 in much needed funds to Haiti to purchase what was most critically needed: water, food and shelter supplies.
Read the full report here: Haiti Update March 30, 2010
Jameson Diezer is a victim of the earthquake that occurred on January 12th in Port-au-Prince. His parents died when the earthquake [...]

We are doing a Children’s Multivitamin Drive for Guyana and are urging our volunteers to donate bottles of children’s multivitamins to Ve’ahavta. These will be distributed to children living in remote communities in Guyana who need vitamin supplementation. For more information, volunteers can contact sarah@veahavta.org or 416-964-7698 x 15.

Photos from Ve’ahavta’s most recent trip to Guyana are online. Take a look here.
Our Guyana project is a development project that focuses on the long term goal of building local capacity of health care service providers and empowering local communities to take control over their health and well being.
The next team will travel to Guyana [...]

Ve’ahavta needs a special volunteer with their certification in food handling to facilitate and supervise a class of 20-40 making sandwiches for the homeless. Event to be held some time in April-May, dates are flexible in accordance with your schedule! Interested volunteers, please email Tessa at volunteerinfo@veahavta.org

Once again, Ve’ahavta is proud to announce we are again hosting a Creative Writing Contest for the Homeless (CWC). This competition reflects the importance within Judaism of expressing ones creativity. CWC is born out of the idea that the Jewish people are the people of the book and therefore encourage thinking, reading, writing, and wonderment.
In [...]

Repairing the World (Tikun Olam) Through Volunteerism, Kindness & Building Global Bridges
Order your Passover Tribute Cards today!
Wish friends and family a Happy Passover with one of our uniquely designed tribute cards. The world has recently witnessed devastating events. Now more than ever, we appreciate the gift of tikun olam – repairing the world.
Choose from [...]

Please Save The Date: Sunday November 7th 2010
This year our keynote speaker is internationally acclaimed humanitarian activist Sir Bob Geldof.  Geldoff, who was born and raised in Ireland, is co-founder of the charity super-group BAND AID, which was created to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Following that success he organized [...]

Great news!
The 40′ container that Ve’ahavta packed and sent on November 30, 2009 arrived safely at the Howard Hospital in Zimbabwe. The shipment took three months to arrive.
Thanks to our donors, partners, and volunteers, the Howard Hospital continues to be one of the only fully operational public hospitals in the country, providing medical services for [...]

Summary of Haiti Crisis Fund Allocations
Ve’ahavta to date, we have received approximately $240,000 for its Haiti Crisis Relief Fund. An additional $214,000 was requested from The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for matching funds for the disaster response
More than 50% of the total funds were allocated within 30 days of the disaster the remaining funds [...]

Through our generous donors, we have raised $260,000 for the people of Haiti, and are now providing aid to 200 orphans at the House of Hope Orphanage in Port-au-Prince. We have also granted funds to Magen David Adom emergency relief workers on the ground, Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief, Health Partners International of Canada, and [...]

Ve’ahavta is monitoring the situation on the ground in Chile following a devastating 8.8 magnitude earthquake on Saturday, February 27th. Nearly two million people have been affected by the earthquake in Chile, with close to a thousand feared dead or missing, several hundred Canadians among them. Thousands throughout the country have been displaced, sleeping [...]

On Tuesday March 30th, 2010, Ve’ahavta will be hosting its 11th Annual Passover Seder for the Homeless, and we need your support!
Please consider donating the following items for the event Marketplace:

Men’s, women’s, children’s clothing and shoes (good condition only please)
non-perishable kosher food items (canned/boxed)
childrens’ toys

Please [...]

Our six person volunteer team departed this Sunday for Guyana on Ve’ahavta’s 12th medical mission. The team is operating a mobile medical clinic, providing free primary care and health care support to indigenous communities. Our volunteers are also focusing on health promotion and education, as well as supporting local health care workers in their efforts [...]

We recently received two reports from a volunteer, Dr. Mark Fenig, who we have helped sponsor and who is now providing relief support in Haiti.
Report 1:  Dr. Mark Fenig
Day two has been super-tiring. Despite docs and nurses and volunteers numbering over 70 there seems to be an endless amount of work. I flew here with [...]

To follow regular updates on the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund, click here.

Haaretz.com features a piece about Haiti’s small but close-knit Jewish community. Click here to read the article.

Geoffrey Clarfield has been with Ve’ahavta for five years. He has worked long and hard to help take Ve’ahavta to a more formal stage, one which all NGOs must go to. He is a true Renaissance Man and a deeply care Jew and human being. We are honored to have been his colleague.
Barbara Morton has [...]

Click here to read Mia Farrow’s diary about Darfur.

Ve’ahavta has collected $180,000 for our Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. We have exceeded our expectations and as of this morning have used up our matching funds. We will be applying to the Canadian government, however, for funds to be matched.
Thank you to all those individuals who have committed to Ve’ahavta’s Earthquake Relief Fund so far. [...]

On Tuesday January 12th, a massive earthquake occurred in Haiti. According to UN estimates, thousands are likely dead and millions more have been left injured and/or homeless. Untold numbers of people remain trapped under the rubble of crumbled and collapsed infrastructure, and aid agencies are still struggling to make contact with their key personnel on [...]

On Monday December 14th, Ve’ahavta, in partnership with TNT, a retail clothing chain, sponsored an entire day of meals — breakfast, lunch, and dinner — at Evangel Hall, a downtown drop-in centre. About 125 people came to each meal and left with full tummies and gifts in hand!
Below is a photo of the day’s crew, [...]

The MJRH outreach van will be changing its Wednesday and Thursday morning runs to evening runs, 6pm to 12 midnight, commencing on January 6, 2010, in order to better serve our clients and volunteers.
If you have any questions, please call our van phone at 416-906-6616. Your feedback is, as always, welcomed and appreciated.
To learn [...]

On Sunday November 8th, 2009, Ve’ahavta and the Toronto community joined together in celebration at the annual Starry Nights gala, to raise funds for Ve’ahavta’s humanitarian projects.
To read what our guests, volunteers, and speakers had to say about the event, and to view photographic evidence of the night’s success, click here!

Read Avrum’s, Ve’ahavta’s Director,  latest piece in The Canadian Jewish News!

On November 30th, 2009, with your support, Ve’ahavta will provide children with the tools to receive a proper education by sending 1,600 Kinder Kits and 40 Teacher Kits to Kenyemba Primary and Secondary schools in rural Zimbabwe. Read more.

Theresa Schrader, a woman who only a few years ago was living on the street and prostituting to satisfy her drug addiction, went on to win Ve’ahavta’s Annual Creative Writing Contest for the Homeless. Today,  Theresa is living a positive and sober life and working towards a degree in Social Service work. Read more about [...]

Ve’ahavta is proud to have responded to the recent natural disaster in Samoa. Together with the Israeli Government, Toronto businessman Walter Arbib, and the UJA/Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto, we have sent pharmaceuticals appropriate to the suffering in this country.
The island nation of Samoa was devastated in late September after multiple earthquakes and tsunami. 150 people died and [...]

A concert of youth musicians promoting harmony among people, performed by the Renanim Youth Singers and featuring the Swansea Youth Drum Squad.
Join us on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 7:30PM
York Woods Library Theatre (1785 Finch Avenue W.)
$15.00/adults
$10.00/students and seniors
For tickets and information, call (416) 398-0289
See the event flyer for full details.

Ve’ahavta is once again holding our Creative Writing Contest for the Homeless. This is a very beautiful program. We ask people living on or near the street to write a literary piece — be it a biography, critique, poetry — which they submit to be judged by some very high profile judges in the writing [...]

We’ve added a Frequently Asked Questions section to the web site.
Feel free to contact us. If you have more questions about this important issue.

We are currently working on our 8th annual Creative Writing Contest for the homeless. For more information about the contest and to download the talented contributions of last year’s winners, see the Creative Writing Contest section of the web site.

Ve’ahavta has established a crisis response fund in an effort to purchase much needed emergency medical equipment for the Soroka University Medical Center, now on the front lines of the ongoing crisis in Israel. Your receipted donation to this fund will help patients of the Soroka Medical Center to recover from the conflict. For more [...]

Ve’ahavta would like to wish everyone a happy Hanukkah and a joyful holiday season.
While we are enjoying this time with family and friends, let us not forget those less fortunate than ourselves. We are already gearing up for this year’s Second Seder and we need your help. We currently have volunteer opportunities on the Passover [...]

As Ve’ahavta is bringing Mariane Pearl, the widow of American Jewish Journalist Daniel Pearl, to their Starry Nights Tikun Olam Awards Ceremony and Gala, we invite you to watch this important documentary on the life of this tragic figure. The Journalist and the Jihadi will be airing Sunday, September 21 at 8:00 PM ET. It [...]

Journalist Mariane Pearl will be the keynote speaker at Ve’ahavta’s Tikun Olam (repairing the world) Awards ceremony at the 2008 Starry Nights gala presented by Distributel. Ms. Pearl was five months pregnant when her husband, Jewish-American reporter Daniel Pearl, was murdered by extremists in Pakistan in 2002. Her story stirs our consciousness and [...]

The Mobile Jewish Response to the Homeless van’s new Tuesday night shift was described in a recent Canadian Jewish News article, “Ve’ahavta adds night shift to help homeless” by Rita Poliakov. To volunteer for a Tuesday night shift on the Ve’ahavta van, contact the Volunteer Coordinator.

Exciting news! We have just officially launched our Tuesday night van shift starting Tuesday, June 17. Tuesday night shifts on the Mobile Jewish Response to the Homeless van run from 6 PM to midnight.
Volunteer spots are going fast! To book a shift on the MJRH van or for further inquiries, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator.

Ve’ahavta’s Sixth Annual Starry Knights Gala was a huge success. For more information and photos, check out the Starry Nights page. Watch this web site for information about the 2009 Gala.

With annual giving, how big will your estate still be? Get the answer by using the TriDelta Donation Planner at http://www.tridelta.ca/donation_planner.php?org=veahavta.