myisrael is delighted to announce that at the end of 2009 it had funded the supply and distribution of more than 25,000 hot meals to vulnerable residents of Bet Shean.

The Bet Shean Foodbank runs an incredible operation every Friday, preparing and delivering packages of food for 100 vulnerable families and 30 elderly residents of the Beit Shean region for Shabbat and holidays.

myisrael is thrilled to be a partner in this organisation which relies solely on volunteers for packing and distributing the food packages around the area.

More than 100 volunteers turn up every Friday to help out and there is an efficient distribution of labour that has been mastered over the years.  At Rosh Hashana and Pesach there is a special effort as larger packages are put together to last the holidays.

The cost of one meal at the Foodbank is around 60p.  This figure is low because most of the food that is delivered, is donated from wedding venues, kibbutzim and individuals who prepare it especially for this purpose.  Most weeks, the only items that need to be purchased are staples like challah, soft drinks and rice or pasta and the containers that the food are delivered in.  To keep costs to a minimum, volunteers even use their own cars to deliver the food and the atmosphere among them is truly heart warming.

myisrael hopes to be able to fund another 25,000 meals by the end of 2010 and thanks all those who made donations to the Bet Shean Foodbank over the last eighteen months.