Max Adler, Josh Sussman, Catherine O’Hara and more donate their footwear for Ron White’s 16th annual shoe drive.
To read the full article, click here.

To read the full article about Starry Nights 2011 in The Canadian Jewish News click here.

A moment in time, sanctimonious and pure, Ve’ahavta’s annual ‘Starry Nights’ gala was a smashing success. Our friends, donors and volunteers as well as all other attendees made this year’s event one to remember.  Driven by an innate desire to push and promote unity, to alleviate suffering of many kinds,
all of those in attendance have [...]

Click here to read John Sacke’s blog entry about Ve’ahavta and Starry Nights

Jane Hawtin spoke with Theresa Schrader. She is a former sex trade worker and now runs Ve’ahavta Street Academy, a program that bridges homeless people and schools.
Click to listen to the interview here.

The Shalit family, Israel and the world, welcome Gilad home, after five years in captivity. Tuesday, October 18th, 2011.

The Veahavta Family welcomes Gilad home, and with all of our hearts extend our love to the Shalits. We wish Gilad well, over the coming days, month and years and pray that he one day soon, leads [...]

After York High School student, Daniel Shade Silver, volunteered on Ve’ahavta’s Mobile Jewish Response to the Homeless, he knew he wanted to find a way to help homeless youth get the supplies and support they need to get off the streets of Toronto. He launched a fundraising initiative called “Cookies for Kids” in which he [...]

Recently one of our Starry Nights honouree was mentioned in the Toronto Metro. Click here to read the full article.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Canadian+inmates+prepare+mark+Prisoners+Justice/5219671/story.html

Blog entry by Tony Blair Faith Foundation’s Ve’ahavta fellows, Lorne and Sumayya, upon arriving in Toronto to spend the year working at Ve’ahavta:

After leaving the ’sunburnt’ country down under, with all its familiarities, it was with apprehension and excitement that I got on the 47B en-route to 200 Bridgeland Ave. It was a mammoth effort to [...]

 Published in The Toronto Star, Tuesday, June 14th, 2011.
Writing Contest offers glimpse into the lives of people who were homeless, addicted, left on the margins.
Excerpt from the 3rd place winning entry, a Dear John letter to crsytal meth:
“When we first met you swept me off my feet; I was the lonely, quiet girl who never really fit [...]

Opening the Doors for Tikun Olam
By: Robyn Segall|
Over 150 people gathered in front of Ve’ahavta’s doors on Sunday, June 5th to witness the official opening of its International Tikun Olam Centre, a first of its kind. Located at 200 Bridgeland Ave, near Yorkdale mall, the 5300 square-foot facility was nothing but a dream for [...]

Jewish Orgs Set Up Slave Lake Crisis Fund, By Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf
Published in Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, May 26, 2011
http://www.cjnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21467&Itemid=86

Ve’ahavta Writing Contest Helps turn Lives Around, By Jared Lindzon
Published in The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, May 26, 2011
http://www.cjnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21453&Itemid=86

Click here to read the full article.
Published in the Canadian Jewish News, May12, 2011.

Yom haShoa v’haGvura – Yom haZikaron – Yom haAtzmaut
Three Days of Commemoration and Celebration
These new days in the Hebrew calendar added in the 20th century, have become the Jewish response to the historical events of that century that re-shaped our destiny as a people. It all began with the evolution of political and [...]

Dear Kulam Friends,
Together with our partners Ve’ahavta (veahavta.org) and JDC (jdc.org) we’re thrilled to share the exciting news that our new school in Shumargie, Ethiopia is complete and students have started classes inside! Daniel our contractor delivered the project on time and on budget – something we rarely see in North America! On opening day [...]

(Published in insidetoronto.com, March 24th, 2011)
Excerpt:
“I was just a slave,” Schrader, 35, said of her crack addiction.
A desperate bid to escape crack drove her to Toronto. She lived at Covenant House, then found her own place to live. She had a child. Toronto Children’s Aid Society took her son at nine months old. After a [...]

Recently, Ve’ahavta partnered with Holy Blossom Temple to distribute 700 Kinder Kits at the Bialek Rogozin School near Tel Aviv.  A documentary about the school, called Strangers No More, won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject .
Read about this in the article published by Haaretz.com on February 28th, 2011;
Excerpt: The movie tells the tale [...]

Read about Julie Schneidermans and Benjamin Sternthal’s volunteer mission to Ethiopia to build a school. Ve’ahavta and Kulam partnered to provide guidance and support for the couple’s humanitarian venture.
(Published in the Canadian Jewish News, February 10th, 2011)
Montreal Couple Builds School in Ethiopia (CJN)

Creative Writing Contest in Halifax
This Sunday January 30th, 2011 our Creative Writing Contest Coordinator Theresa Schrader will be arriving in Halifax to promote the 10th Anniversary of the Creative Writing Contest for the Homeless and Marginalized. Theresa was our grand prize winner from the 6th Annual Creative Writing Contest. We are very excited to be [...]

It is with great pleasure that we start off the New Year with a very special landmark 10 years of our Creative Writing Contest. 10 years ago in the early days of Ve’ahavta this was a small contest and a big vision of giving individuals a VOICE! Ten years later our contest has [...]

Today was a very special day for Ve’ahavta and the work that we do. We have now joined the Steering Committee of the 25in5 Network.
We have further joined the Election Sub-Committee.
This committee will organize key asks for political platforms as the 2011 Provincial Election nears. We want to represent the real needs of Ontarians. [...]

It is with great pleasure that we have begun a new journey into partnering with yet another established and respected organization which supports those living in hardship.
On January 13th, we brought nearly 250 warm sweaters to All Saint’s Church and the Friendship Centre.  They are as excited as we are because of the importance of [...]

Ve’ahavta Board Member, Ron Baruch, and his family recently returned from Cambodia where they distributed Kinder Kits and funds to the Angkor Hospital for Children (AHC).
Attached are pictures which include children receiving Kinder Kits. Both in the hospital and the home care (village care) benefited from these Kinder Kits as you can see from some [...]

HUTANO 1st Annual Fundraiser Goal Supported by Community
$1400 Raised by community donors in Campaign to Rebuild the University of Zimbabwe Medical Library
In its first fundraiser ever, HUTANO announced that its first event was a success. The Organization grossed just over $1400 due to the support of donors. The event featured Sarah Zelcer, Director of International [...]

Click to view full size

The Fires are Out, but Smoke Still Lingers…
After 82 hours, the Carmel Forest Fire was finally put out.

43 people were killed in the fire
247 structures were damaged, including 74 buildings which were completely destroyed
219 people were left without homes
50 000 dunams (over 12,000 acres) of land
10 million trees destroyed

Ve’ahavta has raised just over $10,000 to [...]

When I look at the supply of food in Canada and think about the food that goes to waste I ask myself – how do we let people go hungry in this country?  How do we live with this on conscience?  I thought Canada was  developed country.  The G20 Summit that was just held here [...]

Ve’ahavta is in Jerusalem this week joining 19 organizations strategizing on Jewish volunteerism and the approach to modern Zionism, and exploring volunteer opportunities offered through Masa Israel Journey. With young adults’ growing interest in international volunteer opportunities, Masa Israel, a joint project of the Government of Israel and the Jewish Agency for Israel, is making [...]

Congratulations to the winners of our Kinder Kit Challenge:
Matthew & Aviva Gottlieb from Toronto! Thank you for your support.
To date our challenge has raised $24,000 which will distribute over 1,300 Kinder Kits!
Click here to read more about this event.
Our exciting eBay items are receiving a lot of attention!
Check them out here and place your [...]

Ve’ahavta is proud to announce that this year’s Tikun Olam Awards Ceremony, Starry Nights were attended by over 750 people on Sunday, November 7, 2010 at the Toronto Centre for the Performing Arts.
The event featured keynote speaker Sir Bob Geldof, internationally acclaimed humanitarian activist, and co-founder of the charity super-group Band Aid. He [...]

Ve’ahavta is proud to announce that this year’s Tikun Olam Awards Ceremony, Starry Nights raised almost $700,000 for various tikun olam, repairing the world, initiatives around the world on Sunday, November 7th, 2010 at the Toronto Centre for the Performing Arts.
The event featured keynote speaker Sir Bob Geldof, internationally acclaimed humanitarian activist, and co-founder of [...]

Thursday, November 4
9:30 am
Seneca College King Campus
POD-C
13990 Dufferin Street, Toronto
416-491-5050 ext. 5273
The Tutsi Genocide and its Aftermath
In this presentation, Régine King will provide a short overview of the historical and political issues that led to the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda, some of the consequences of this genocide and some steps made towards recovery.
Régine Uwibereheyo [...]

These Messages of Hope were written by the grade 8 students of Bialik Hebrew Day School in October 2010 for the children in Haiti receiving Kinder Kits. Click the image below to see all of the messages.

For the first time, we sent off TWO international teams in one day – our first volunteer team to Kenya this afternoon, and our third Guyana team of 2010 this evening.
Our Kenya Kinder Kit team – Corinne, Lisa, Mark, and our very own Thomas Ngobe (site coordinator)- were excited and ready to go. Thomas [...]

Last week we had our very first Ve’ahavta Street Academy (VSA) Alumni meeting. There were three alumni in attendance which was fabulous considering the pouring rain outside.
One of the two students that is going to George Brown College was in attendance. He reports how Redirection Through Education (RTE) is changing [...]

The Chilean Miners: A Natural Miracle
By Avrum Rosensweig
The rescue off 33 men in a Chilean mine seems Biblical in texture and miraculous in nature.
Millions of us traveled into the guts of the earth, to join in a rescue of 33 Chilean miners and to witness the intersection of nature, faith, the Divine, and the brilliance [...]

Starry Nights Tickets are on sale now! Click here to purchase.

Ve’ahavta Partners With the State of Israel and Skyline International to Send Pharmaceuticals to Chad
Ve’ahavta, The State of Israel and Skylink International have committed to providing urgently needed pharmaceutical supplies to assist refugees from Darfur currently living in refugee camps in Chad.  The shipment left on October 5, 2010.

Ve’ahavta, in partnership with Food for the Poor Canada, is facilitating 5 20 foot containers of food aid and educational supplies to Haiti. The donations will be distributed to the House of Hope Orphanage, as well as to the 3,000 other local partners of Food for The Poor in Haiti. We are thrilled [...]

You can help!
On Friday night a 6 alarm blaze ripped through a downtown housing complex at 200 Wellesley Street. The fire was extinguished Friday evening but as of Sunday the fire chief claims there are still hot spots. Some 1700 low income individuals are now homeless and seeking refuge at the Wellesley Community Centre. [...]

Dear Friends:
Why should we all come out to Starry Nights Sunday, November 7th at 6pm?
Because Ve’ahavta literally helped save over 200 orphans in Haiti after last year’s devastating earthquake by providing clean water and sustainable farming.  We are also assisting in the rebuilding of their damaged classroom.  More importantly, we have a long term commitment to support these children.
This past summer we provided ten [...]

We have created a joint effort in our fight against poverty within the communities of Toronto. PARC is a drop-in and recreation facility which helps those living under the poverty line as well as facilitates the growing process by providing supportive housing within the Parkdale area. They are registered in the Scotiabank Waterfront [...]

You Are Invited To:
Starry Nights
Ve’ahavta’s Tikun Olam
2010 Awards
Sunday, November 7th, 2010
Join Ve’ahavta as we celebrate our Tikun Olam Award honourees.
HOW TO PURCHASE TICKETS
Tickets $500 – To PURCHASE TICKETS CONTACT VE’AHAVTA AT 416-964-7698
LIMITED TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR STUDENTS / YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
> PURCHASE TICKETS
> GET STUDENT TICKETS
Keynote Speaker
Acclaimed Humanitarian Activist and Co-founder
of the charity super-group Band-Aid
SIR BOB GELDOF
Master [...]

The High Holidays is a time when we work toward being less invisible. We stand in front of God and with all the visibility we can muster we ask for forgiveness. We humble ourselves in front of those we love, like, or work with — and we are contrite, showing as much of our essence [...]

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.

Give truth to Jacob, kindness to Abraham like that you
swore to our [...]

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.