Sderot’s Volunteer House

Volunteerism is one of the biggest challenges – as well as one of the most satisfying accomplishments – of the civilian world.  Sderot’s residents are highly motivated to contribute to their community;  today, in Sderot, there are more than 500 volunteers who are active in more than 40 community projects.

Sderot’s Volunteer House was founded to make connections between volunteers and those in Sderot who need help.   Volunteer House trains and supports volunteers and their activities and provides a base for them where they may meet.   

Sderot’s Volunteer House has three main tasks: 

• Ensuring a sufficient, effective and well-trained volunteer force:  recruiting and assigning volunteers, identifying programs and projects that need volunteers, and training volunteers with workshops and seminars.
• Cross-organizational coordination:  Volunteer House uses a national program called “Matov,” created by JDC-Israel, to raise awareness of the public to volunteer opportunities and benefits.  Local bodies such as municipalities use Matov to identify resources and create partnerships with their communities and local businesses.
• Developing a plan for emergency volunteers:  in light of the ongoing security crisis in Sderot, Volunteer House is developing a group of volunteers very similar to the military’s Reserve Service (in Israel) or the National Guard (in the USA).  These volunteers are trained specifically for emergency response tasks such as evacuating the elderly, providing emergency aid to people with disabilities and distributing food.

Gvanim thanks its Program Partners:  Zionut 2000, Sderot’s Community Center, Municipality of Sderot/Dept of Social Services, the Ministry of Social Services/Division for Volunteerism, the Ministry of Housing/Project Renewal, JDC-Israel