Campaigning in Manchester: Please share the video

We are pleased to unveil our newest Malki Foundation video. This one was made especially for a fundraising campaign getting underway now by the students of the King David High School in Manchester, UK.

The video, produced for us by Momento Media, was enthusiastically received by the students, and we are so grateful for their support! 

Thank you especially to the young star of this production, Eliav Markowitz, who graciously volunteered his time and acting abilities in order to add to the success of this fine effort. 

The video is online here. Please watch and share it far and wide.

Live from Salford City Radio - it's the Malki Foundation!

Over in Manchester, England, there's a weekly radio program on Salford City Radio called The Jewish Hour. Dena Ryness is its engaging presenter, and last night (Tuesday, July 13, 2015) she interviewed Arnold Roth of the Malki Foundation. 

Their subject was the enormously successful fund-raising effort made by the students of Manchester's King David School, along with the students of Yavneh Yeshiva and Yavneh Girls. 

We have written about the exemplary efforts of the KDS/Yavneh students in several recent posts: Thank you, Manchester! (June 5, 2015); The culmination of a great school effort: Honouring our visitors from Manchester (May 31, 2015); 2014: A look-back at our UK activities (December 26, 2014); Attention shoppers! Friends of the Malki Foundation at work (December 1, 2014); Malki Foundation profiled on Salford City Radio (September 21, 2014); Students at Manchester UK's King David School adopt Malki Foundation as chosen charity (September 19, 2014).

It's a privilege and a pleasure to be associated with them.

Click here to listen to last night's radio interview via SoundCloud.

Thank you, Manchester!

Greer Fay Cashman, writing in today's Jerusalem Post ["Grapevine: Largesse from Down Under", June 5, 2015], focuses some well-justified attention on the wonderful efforts, and meaningful outcome, of a year-long charity project at one of the UK's main Jewish schools.

Here's her account.

The students visit the Keren Malki Equipment Lending Unit at Yad Sarah
(minus the Yavneh Girls contingent who visited several hours earlier)

CHILDREN CAN be selfish, but they can also display an amazing generosity of spirit – as was the case with 90 Manchester youngsters who presented a check for £12,000 to the Malki Foundation in Jerusalem.

As part of their Year 9 trip to Israel, students from King David High School, the Yavneh Yeshiva High School and Yavneh Girls from Manchester, UK, visited Yad Sarah headquarters in the capital and saw how the Malki Foundation operates in a joint venture with Yad Sarah warehouses, thus enabling the management and delivery of home-care equipment to families throughout Israel.

Students Jacob Rudolph and
Omri Simon deliver their message

The Manchester project has paid for six new customized supportive chairs and four new walking devices for children with disabilities, which the Malki Foundation will lend out to families caring for a disabled child at home.

Each piece of equipment will be used by multiple families for many years, helping to make their lives easier.

“Our main aim is to empower families to look after their children at home,” explained Malki Foundation chairman Arnold Roth.

“Specialized equipment like these chairs and walking devices can be transformative for many families, who are determined to care for their special-needs children at home instead of institutionalizing them.”

The Malki Foundation was started by the Roth family, whose 15 year-old-daughter Malki was killed in the Sbarro pizza parlor bombing in Jerusalem in 2001. Arnold Roth visited Manchester last year to meet the schoolchildren and speak about Malki’s dedication to helping others during her short life; moved by the story, the youngsters spent nine months fund-raising.

From left: Moshe Cohen, Yad Sarah's managing director;
Arnold Roth, Malki Foundation honorary chair; David Rose,
Yavneh King David Bursar; Debbie Fishman, executive
director of Malki Foundation

Speaking at the presentation of the £12,000 check, Jacob Rudolph and Omri Simon from Yavneh Yeshiva High School explained how their class of 14 students raised half the sum by packing supermarket bags and organizing sponsored bike rides, quizzes and raffles.

“This project showed us what we are capable of when we are motivated to help others who can do less than we can,” they enthused.

While in Jerusalem, the students met Kiro Kolavita, a parent of a child with Cerebral palsy, who spoke about the significance of the equipment provided by the Malki Foundation.

“Many of these Manchester students are the same age Malki was when her life was tragically cut short. It is heartwarming to see how her legacy lives on in the hearts of Jewish children around the world,” noted Malki’s father.

Yad Sarah managing director Moshe Cohen thanked the children for their good works.

Inspecting the equipment: Yavneh Girls

“Your initiatives throughout the year are inspiring, and will help dozens of children with special needs for many years. I hope this project will point the way for you to live lives full of hesed [acts of lovingkindness] and tzedaka [charity] all your lives.”

Cohen then expressed his gratitude to Arnold Roth for his fruitful cooperation with Yad Sarah these past 12 years. “During these years we have had the privilege of helping over 2,800 children through the Malki Foundation.

The new equipment we will be able to purchase thanks to the contribution of these schoolchildren is good news, and will enable us to expand our service to even more children.”

---

The Jewish Chronicle in London has some coverage of the visit as well: click here for "They give as good as they get" [JC, June 5, 2015].

The culmination of a great school effort: Honouring our visitors from Manchester

After all that work - a chance to see first-hand where the money goes

We played host on Thursday to about a hundred British guests from the King David High School, the Yavneh Yeshiva High School and Yavneh Girls, in Manchester, UK.

Their visit to Jerusalem's Bet Yad Sarah, from where a Keren Malki Joint Venture with Yad Sarah warehouses, manages and ships home-care equipment to families throughout Israel was a rare and special pleasure for the Malki Foundation team.

The students, all ninth-graders, had taken part during the past year in a variety of activities, mainly of a fund-raising nature, to support the work of Keren Malki. (Here's the September 19, 2014 media announcement.)

The official campaign t-shirt

In large measure, the very positive outcome was the result of tremendous co-operation and support from the campus administration, and in particular the campus bursar Mr David Rose, and Rabbi Jonathan Goodman who headed the project from Manchester. The events of the day itself owed a great deal to the input and assistance of Yad Sarah's personnel under the leadership of Moshe Cohen, the organization's managing director. Special thanks to its spokesperson, David Rottner.

Here's a partial list of what the students did, as recited by Nadia Mechlowitz, a Yavneh Girls student who represented her classmates in a short speech accompanying the hand-over of a donation cheque:

JustGiving page; Zumba class; Pesach cookbook; Bake sale; Bat-mitzvah money; Supermarket bag packing [we reported on that in December 2014]; Family donations; Shpieling (at Purim time); Money-collection boxes placed in shops and restaurants; Kugel and cholent sale; Guessing how many sweets in the jar. And more.

Among the other activities, a Yavneh Boys bike ride raised a considerable sum. They published the group photo below so we could share in the nachat.

Grade 9 Yavneh Boys: A fund-raising bike ride

Some snapshots from a delightful visit:

Arnold Roth, Keren Malki's honorary chairman, with a group
of visiting Mancunian students on the Yad Sarah
8th floor balcony

Formal presentation of one of the donation cheques

Yavneh Girls

Presenting another cheque

We noticed quite a number of students were
wearing Keren Malki wristbands

Hearing first-hand some of the experiences of Shlomo, the father of
a five year-old child with severe disabilities, and about the helpful role
played by the Malki Foundation's team

For students and administrators in other places, it's important for us to mention that at the Malki Foundation we value hugely the goodwill and positive energy that comes from partnering with high-school students. As the KDS/Yavneh experience illustrates amply, focusing on the powerful message of chesed and reaching out to children with disabilities can provide an invaluable moment in a well-rounded Jewish education.

2014: A look-back at our UK activities

Manchester: Business breakfast

As the year draws to a close, we can reflect positively on our achievements in the UK during 2014 in terms of a huge increase awareness of The Malki Foundation and in the number of active donors now on our fast growing database.

The highlight of the year was undoubtedly our UK tour in March. Arnold Roth, together with Debbie Fishman, Executive Director and Nicole Gordon, UK Development Director traveled tirelessly across the UK for 15 speaking engagements in Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and London. 

Liverpool: Community dinner at the King David Campus

From schools to shuls, Quaker meetings to Business Breakfasts, Arnold captivated audiences with his story of how he and his family channeled grief into positive action following the tragic murder of their beloved daughter Malki in 2001.  

During the week of the tour, an estimated 1,500 people were made aware of The Malki Foundation and the essential work it does. 

The tour raised a substantial amount of money that will help ensure The Malki Foundation can continue to make a difference for all those people it supports.

Leeds hears about The Malki Foundation

Late summer saw the inaugural Malki Foundation Golf Day at The Shires, the only Seve Ballesteros-designed golf course in the UK. A number of golfers enjoyed the challenges of this wonderful course on a warm sunny day followed by a lunch, raffle and address on The Malki Foundation by Nicole Gordon. 

The day was a huge success and the Foundation’s second golf day has already been planned for May 2015.

During Hanukkah 2014, eight schools across the UK participated in our Donate a Doughnut campaign. This engaging tzedakah project, which was actively supported by teachers and parents, encouraged schoolchildren to think about others less fortunate themselves at a time when they are being truly indulged. 

London: Debbie Fishman (L) and Nicole Gordon (R)
welcome participants at a West End business breakfast
for the Malki Foundation

The initial signs are extremely encouraging with several thousand pounds already raised to date with several schools still to complete the project.

The UK team is proud of what has been achieved this year. The Malki Foundation and the story of its creation touched the hearts of so many individuals across a vast age spectrum most of whom have only just been made aware of its existence.  

With three new hardworking and passionate trustees now on board, Robert Green and Geoff Hartnell (both from London), Johnny Cohen (Liverpool) and Devorah Toft (Manchester) and some fantastic events planned for 2015, we are excited about the future and confident that The Malki Foundation will go from strength to strength in the UK.

Nicole Gordon
UK Development Director - Keren Malki UK
London

Attention shoppers! Friends of the Malki Foundation at work

Sainsbury's, Cheadle, Manchester

As we mentioned here back in September, high school students from King David School and Yavneh College in Manchester, England, are in the midst of a campaign to raise funds to provide additional items of specialized equipment for the Malki Foundation equipment warehouse in Jerusalem.

(There's more information about the Keren Malki/Yad Sarah joint venture, now going into its twelfth year of growth and achievement, here).

One of the KDS groups adopted the idea of forming teams of bag packaging experts who positioned themselves at the Sainsbury's Cheadle South Manchester supermarket. They used social media, including Twitter and Facebook, to promote their "amazing bag packing skills and support an amazing cause". And they wore branded t-shirts (above) to enhance their message. With the Sainsbury's staff and shoppers joining in the fun, the activity was hugely successful, raising over £500 for the Malki Foundation. Next weekend, another group of Year 9 students will be packing bags in another South Manchester supermarket .

We hear that other groups from the same school have been making cakes:

We #baked some #yummy #cupcakes a few weeks ago and sold them door to door all in aid of #TheMalkiFoundation #KerenMalki we also baked some yummy #biscuits !!!!! [Instagram]

And here's the evidence [via Instagram again]:

Over the coming months, KDS students will be embarking on a number of exciting and well-thought-out activities to keep raising funds for the Malki Foundation. The ideas they have thought up range from swimathons and sponsored walks to launching a grand raffle in early 2015.

Malki Foundation profiled on Salford City Radio

Basil Herwald of Salford City Radio's Jewish Hour program interviewed Arnold Roth, The Malki Foundation's honorary chair, in February 2014.

The timing was driven by a brief but packed visit to Manchester that Arnold made, along with Debbie Fishman who runs Keren Malki from Jerusalem and Nicole Gordon, executive head of Keren Malki UK, in March 2014.

Click here for the audio.

Students at Manchester UK's King David School adopt Malki Foundation as chosen charity

This picture of King David students accompanies
the Jewish Telegraph article

Some great news from the United Kingdom. This article appears in today's edition (September 19, 2014) of the Jewish Telegraph, UK:

KD Kids Back Terror Victim's Charity 

BY ZOE COHEN 

YEAR Nine pupils at King David High School are set to develop ideas to raise money for an Israeli charity. 

They gathered at a special assembly on Wednesday for the launch of the Keren Malki Project. 

The school has teamed-up with the project as its chosen charity for when the pupils head to Israel next year. 

Jewish studies teacher Rabbi Jonathan Goodman, who is heading the project, told them about the charity's background and how they will make an impact. 

The Malki Foundation was started by the Roth family, whose daughter Malki was killed in the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing in Jerusalem in 2001. 

It supports families of children with disabilities. 

The KD pupils have set a £12,000 target, which will allow the charity to purchase equipment which helps special needs children with muscle development, skeletal growth, increased bone density and social development and integration. 

The students were shown a short film produced by the Roth family, which highlighted the key concepts of how the foundation has impacted on both parents and children. 

Rabbi Goodman said: "These pieces of equipment will help children up to 19-years-old and are able to be reused to help the lives of many for years to come." 

Each student will try to raise £100. Rabbi Goodman told the students: "We have to understand who Malki was. 

"Only after a person has died is when we start talking greatness of them. 

"We should appreciate the people around us when they are alive."

From the Keren Malki KDS pushke design

As part of the discussions with King David School's senior people, The Malki Foundation's management team here in Jerusalem and in Manchester came up with a design (see it above) for a charity (tzedaka) box to be given to the KDS students taking part in the new project.

Meanwhile on the King David School website, they posted this on Wednesday:

Launching the Year 9 Charity for 2014-15, Keren Malki 

September 17, 2014 

This morning Year 9 main school, Yavneh Boys and Yavneh Girls were introduced to this year's school charity, Keren Malki. The Keren Malki Foundation seeks to support families of disabled children in Israel with resources to help their children at home with chairs, seats and therapies in order to realise an active life. 

The foundation is named after Malka Chana Roth. She was born in Melbourne, Australia on November 27, 1985 (Kislev 14, 5746). She died at the age of fifteen in terror attack on the Sbarro restaurant, Jerusalem, on August 9, 2001 (Menachem Av 20, 5761). 

Over this next year KDHS hope to raise £12,000 to support the Keren Malki Foundation.

A great initiative - we wish well to all those involved.