Undertaking Social Involvement

For the first time, on Wednesday the 31st of October, 2012, the Institute hosted a "Social Involvement Day".

The Institute is proud to announce that, during the 2012 academic year, our students contributed ca. 14,000 hours (!!!) of social involvement and community action in compensation for the scholarships they received. Our students participated in almost 30 bodies and societies, most of them in the city of Holon. In order to encourage more of this blessed and important activity during the forthcoming academic year of 2013, the Student Administration initiated a Social Involvement Day, in order to expose all our students and staff to the community's need for volunteers and to enable the scholarship students, who are committed to 25 hours of service, to choose, from among the many options, their preferred projects or organizations, those that best suited for their social involvement.

By 12:30, representatives of many social organizations and societies had already gathered, in order to get acquainted with the Institute and its students. They represented a broad social spectrum, including: organizations for children and youth; organizations for animal rights and care; the "Laad" Organization for Holocaust Survivals; the "Latet" Humanitarian Aid Organization; the "Israel Society for the Blind"; various charitable societies, etc.
Dr. Michal Sela, Head of the Student Administration: "The activity enables our students to contribute to the community, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, it exposes them to the complex issues of Israeli society and enables us, as a higher education institution, to influence the shaping of graduates more conscious of the society in which they live and which they are about to lead."

This important day was opened with speeches by the Institute's President Prof. Gadi Golan, followed by Dr. Michal Sela. Both of them spoke about the importance of integrating academia and the community. Next, the audience heard a lecture by Liron Yohai, the founder and manager of various social and humanitarian projects in Israel and abroad: Tanzania, Eastern Congo and Haiti, among others. She is currently a Special Projects Manager in the "Latet" Organization.

 

These fascinating lectures opened a portal for the students into the world of active social involvement and raised their motivation to contribute to the community.
After the lectures, the participants enjoyed a happening on the lawn, where they met face-to-face with various organizational representatives and social coordinators, to chose where they want to do their social service.
On that day, as many as 60 students signed up to do social service at about 20 different social organizations.
Bosmat Shallom-Tuchin, Student Welfare Services Coordinator: "This is the first time the Institute has organized such an event. In light of its success and the importance of the subject, we plan to hold such events at least once a year."