Just six months ago, JGooders.com was started as way to build a global, accessible, vibrant, and transparent central Jewish and Israeli arena that would connect needs and generosity; social initiators and social enablers, and allow everyone to Do Good. [from JGooders.com]
JGooders is off to a fast start, as hundreds of Non Profit Organizations have signed up and started to raise money and awareness through the website. According to Tova Serkin, JGooders’ chief business officer, the website is a great way for young adults and people of all ages to get involved in community service and Israeli social action programs. Not only is the website convenient for those looking to contribute through service work and donations, it is also a nice way for NPOs to collaborate, fundraise, and promote their causes and upcoming events.
Turning to their environmental focus, Tova said that environmental organizations were a solid portion of the NPOs involved with the website. So far, around 25 organizations have been promoting environmental causes in Israel and the United States.
Some of the main environmental organizations collaborating with JGooders have been Sviva Israel, the Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership, and Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Through the website, these organizations have been collecting donations and promoting their projects to a wider portion of the Jewish community.
Some of the interesting projects listed are Kishorit’s Organic Goat Farm, where the goal is to employ 23 Jews and Arabs with special needs, and use environmental practices to produce organic goat cheeses. The objective is to sell the cheeses to a high-end market, and to increase the size of the organic dairy herd by over 300% over the next five years.
The organization Canfei Nesharim from California has several projects underway that bring environmental education and service projects to North American Jewish communities.
One project focuses on bringing more environmental education and service projects to Jewish Day schools. The other works on bringing environmental awareness and action to Synagogues, and particularly more observant synagogues, where environmental and green practices are often lacking.
In addition to being a forum for Non Profit organizations, JGooders has some of its own special programs. This year, JGooders launched a 2009 Tu BiShvat Vote For The Environment Campaign.
Since Tu BiShvat was the day before Israeli elections, the program allowed people to vote for their favorite environmental organization on the website.
The organization Sviva Israel won and received a bonus prize of 500 dollars from JGooders. Also during the voting campaign, people were given extra incentives to make donations, as the organization that received the highest donations would get an additional 1000 dollars. The organization Tzar Ba’al L’haim claimed the prize in this category.
With the simple platform of encouraging Jews to do Tikkun Olam, JGooders.com is working hard to make opportunities more available and better funded. They look forward to expanding their role to include more volunteers, donors, and NPOs, and ultimately helping many others Do Good.
