Free Show Could Be Boon for Yemin Orde
The Atlanta community has been challenged to donate $50,000 to earn an Israeli school a dollar-for-dollar matching grant tied to a free concert next month.
The 11-member Yemin Orde Youth Choir, composed of at-risk teens from Ethiopia, France, Brazil and former Soviet republics who study at the residential youth village on Mount Carmel in northern Israel, is performing at The Temple at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, as part of a two-week U.S. tour sponsored by Friends of Yemin Orde.
That fundraising organization has received a $50,000 challenge grant from an Atlanta supporter. The grant will match every dollar in new and increased gifts to Friends of Yemin Orde from the Atlanta community through April 20, up to $1,000 per donor.
In addition to the $50,000 challenge grant, the Marcus Foundation has an ongoing 2-to-1 challenge grant for donations to bring Yemin Orde’s Village Way methodology to additional villages and schools throughout Israel. Thus, commitments made in connection with the choir concert will be matched on a 3-to-1 basis.
“Yemin Orde and its Village Way educational methodology are changing the very nature of education for at-risk youth in Israel,” said Lewis Shubin, a Friends of Yemin Orde national board member and co-chair of the Temple concert with his wife, Joanie. He urged donations to meet the new challenge grant. “This is important for Israel’s future and for the future generations of Jews everywhere.”
The choir’s Atlanta performance will celebrate the 30-year partnership between Yemin Orde and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.
“We are thrilled to have Yemin Orde’s choir in Atlanta to celebrate the great friendship between Yemin Orde and our community. Our aim is to make this the choir’s largest event during its U.S. tour, and we are confident Atlanta’s Southern hospitality with help make this effort a success,” said Robert Arogeti, the Shubins’ event co-chair, who joined the Friends of Yemin Orde national board last fall. “The Atlanta community welcomes Yemin Orde’s youth with open arms.”
Registration for the concert, which begins with a dessert reception, is open at bit.ly/22geif2.
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