Ezrat Achim is a local chessed organization that, among other things, provides a loving, structured environment for children with special needs during after-school hours, 365 days a year. They needed to raise money for their summer program, as they were turning children away due to lack of funds. They turned to us to build a strategy and concept for a fundraising event and campaign. We determined that the goal of the event would be to connect women to Ezrat Achim, and encourage them to sign up for a pledge of $365. We chose ‘Revealing Gifts’ as the theme of the event - an allusion to the gift of having a child with special needs, as well as the gift of being able to give to them. We first hosted a smaller event, with a carefully selected core group of women who we felt had potential to be ambassadors for the larger event. Each woman was assigned a ‘gift’ - for example, the gift of friendship, the gift of kindness, the gift of hope. The women then committed to fill her gift-themed table at the big event with a group of 10 other women. We branded the event as a gift, and created the evening’s program on that theme:

- Revealing the gift of community- Racheli Frankel (mother of Naftali hy’d) gave a stirring speech. - Revealing the gift in the challenge - A mother of a special needs child shared her experience. - Revealing the gift of friendship - We played an exciting, interactive trivia game The event was hugely successful and created a real buzz in the community for weeks afterwards. The event raised over 100,000 nis, enabling Ezrat Achim to expand its special needs summer program.