Volunteers for Israel

Volunteers for Israel’s (VFI) mission “is to connect Americans to Israel through volunteer service. They achieve this goal by partnering with military and civilian organizations that enable volunteers to work side-by-side with Israelis. They promote solidarity and good will among Israelis, American Jews and other friends of Israel”. VFI is a U.S.-based non-profit organization responsible for recruiting Americans volunteering their services in Israel. VFI’s web site is [http://www.vfi-usa.org] .

Sar-El is the Israel-based volunteer program linked with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Every year thousands of volunteers from overseas serve for some weeks with the IDF. Their job is neither paid nor armed and mainly in the logistical, maintaining, catering, supply and medical services. Having volunteers do these jobs saves the army money and spares reserve soldiers from being called up. Volunteers must be at least 17 years old (if accompanied by parents: 14 years) and healthy.

VFI's quarterly national newslettter, The Volunteer Connection, is available at http://vfi-usa.org/newsletter.html. A short promotional video is viewable at http://vfi-usa.org/videos.html.

History

The program was raised in the summer of 1982 by Brigadier (ret.) Dr. Aharon Davidi (former commander of the IDF Paratrooper and Infantry Corps), when due to the general mobilization during the Lebanon War in some kibbutzim at the Golan the harvest with crops already ripened was in danger, because all able-bodied farmers were on reserve duty in the IDF. Within a few weeks Davidi recruited some 650 volunteers to lend their support for Israel through volunteer labor on IDF bases, so the kibbuzniks could be sent to their fields. These first volunteers expressed their wish that this volunteer project should be perpetuated, and in the spring of 1983, "Sar-El - The National Project for Volunteers for Israel" was founded as a non-profit, non-political organization. Volunteers from all over the world came to participate in the project, and today, Sar-El is represented in some 30 countries.

For the past 3 years (2004-06), 64% of Sar-El's volunteers come from "Volunteers for Israel" - (VFI) in the U.S.A., Canadian Volunteers for Israel (CVI) [http://www.sarelcanada.org/] and "Volontariat Civil" in France. The rest came from all over the world. The largest volunteer age segment was under 25 years old, 48 percent of volunteers were women, and 13.6 percent of volunteers were non-Jewish.

Legal Status

The volunteers wear IDF work uniforms with blue Sar-El epaulettes, but they are not soldiers, because Sar-El is not an official part of the IDF. For this reasons their volunteer service usually does not collide with the military laws of the volunteer's home countries.

Meaning

Sar-El is the Hebrew acronym for Sherut Le’Israel, meaning "Service for Israel". It refers to The "National Project for Volunteers for Israel" founded as a non-profit, non-political organization.

Contact Phone Numbers

*General Inquiries & Questions, 866.514.1948, [e-mail]

*New York: 212.643.4848, [e-mail]

*New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT), 617.571.7373, [e-mail]

*Philadelphia (DE, NJ, PA, WV): 610-617-4048, 888.473.6527, [e-mail]

*Mid-Atlantic (DC, MD, NC, SC, VA), 301.603.9300, [e-mail]

*Tennessee & South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, TN), 615.604.7308, [e-mail]

*Chicago & Midwest (IL, IA, KS, MN, MO, NE), 847.677.3817, [e-mail]

*Midwest / Great Lakes (IN, MI, OH, WI), 248.420.3729, [e-mail]

*Colorado & Mountain States (CO, ND, OK, SD, TX, WY), 303.394.9700, [e-mail]

*Pacific Northwest (AK, HI, ID, MT, OR, WA), 425.235.8280, [e-mail], web: [http://www.vfi-pacificnw.org]

*California Central & North (N. CA, NV, UT), 510.839.2900 x355, [e-mail]

*California & Southwest (AZ, S. CA, NM), 323.661.7898, [e-mail]

*Canadian Volunteers for Israel, 416.781.6089, Fax: [phone], [e-mail], Montreal, 514.735.0272, [http://[e-mail]]

=Further reading=
* [http://www.amazon.com/Army-Fatigues-Joining-International-Volunteers/dp/1934440086/ref=cm_rna_own_review_prod Army Fatigues: Joining Israel's Army of International Volunteers by Mark Werner]

* [http://vfi-usa.org/newsletter.html The Volunteer Connection is VFI's national newsletter published quarterly since Fall, 2006]

External links

*http://www.sar-el.org Sar-El in Israel
*http://www.vfi-usa.org Volunteers for Israel in the U.S.A.

*http://sarelcanada.org/ Canadian Volunteers for Israel

*http://www.upisarel.org Le Volontariat Civil en Israël (Sar-El in France)

*http://belgique.upisarel.org Le Volontariat Civil en Israël-SAR-EL Belgique (Sar-El in Belgium)

*http://www.sar-el.nl/ Stichting Sar-El Nederland (Sar-El in Netherlands)