The Sarah Herzog Children’s Centre in Afula is home to over 150 children suffering from various degrees of neglect, abuse and dysfunctionality. The love and care they receive at this special place enables them to overcome their traumas and integrate back into the community. Several years ago a petting zoo was set up there which has achieved amazing results with the children, who relate to animals in a way they cannot do with people. It costs just £25,000 a year to run this zoo, but Emunah is struggling to find this amount. This year's Jewish Princesses will be spending Shabbat at the centre and will see for themselves the wonderful work achieved with the children and animals at this wonderful Home.

Beit Weinstein in Bnei Brak is a centre that has a special school for special girls. The Doris and Bertie Black School was set up over 15 years ago by British EMUNAH for girls who could not fit into mainstream education. Some of them had dropped out of the education system altogether and were earning their living on the streets, others had been so disruptive in their existing schools that they had been expelled. Many of the 150 girls that now attend this school not only complete their bagrut but they also learn vocational skills that give them educational and employment opportunities once they leave.

However, the caring and home-like atmosphere in the school could not help another problem occurring. Three years ago the Headmistress came to us with another request. Many girls were suffering from lack of concentration in lessons and after investigating she discovered that most of them had not eaten before they came to school, and were going home to empty cupboards. She wanted to provide these girls, most of whom come from deprived backgrounds, with the most basic need - that of a daily hot meal. EMUNAH set up the FoodFund programme which now provides meals for over 300 girls from this school and another EMUNAH school nearby where the same problem was found. This programme costs us £58,000 a year to run and your donations will help us to ensure that these girls will each get their only hot meal of the day at school.

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