In the early days of lockdown leading up to Pesach, thousands of Hebrew University students found themselves learning remotely and often isolated – or volunteering to help in providing support in the community around Jerusalem. Many of them, as well as their parents, lost their jobs, resulting in severe financial hardship. The British Friends of the Hebrew University joined a fundraising campaign led by Israeli Friends, Hebrew University Alumni and the University’s leadership, leading to vital emergency grants for over 1,000 students. A generous response from UK donors to our Pesach 2020 Appeal was matched by BFHU discretionary funds doubling all local donations, the total sum being remitted to the Hebrew University for prompt distribution as needed.
On behalf of the Hebrew University and indeed the students themselves, thank you to those who supported our call for help. Below you will find notes of appreciation from some of the recipients:
“In these difficult times of the Corona, we are studying from home with ZOOM and all job opportunities are at risk. I am teaching English with ZOOM. The support I received helped me in this difficult time to focus more on my assignments for the University and will certainly help paying for my school bills” Nimrod (Education and Political Science)
“I am from a small peripheral Arab village, my parent’s financial situation is difficult and the current crisis threatens a successful completion of my studies. However I am inspired to help others and give back to the community. Therefore, I decided to help combat the coronavirus outbreak by volunteering in the testing labs where the lack of sufficient workforce exacerbates overtime as the virus spreads” Rula (Medicine)
“The COVID-19 crisis has an impact on my family’s finances, my mother had to close her small business at the beginning of the crisis, and short after that my father was forced in an unpaid leave. Helping me wasn’t easy for them, but the crisis made it nearly impossible. Therefore, I am again grateful for your donation. It gave me a breathing space to finish this semester with less worries. Best wishes and good health” Anna (Pharmacy)
“I cannot work right now. In my family, my father does not work because of the Corona Virus, my mother does not work at all, my brothers finished their studies with honour, one became a dentist, and the other became a teacher. Words would never be enough to express my respect for you. Knowing that you care about the students and having you as a support for them fills me with hope and motivation. Best wishes” Zena (Pharmacy)
“The latest crisis that hit our world didn’t miss out on my parents, who lost their jobs as teachers and instructors of children and elderly since these, as well as my parents, considered in the risk population of the coronavirus. This situation resulted in my duty to support them during these few months and hit hard on my savings for education.
Thanks to people like you, I could continue my studies with fewer concerns on our economical situation. There are no words that could describe my huge gratitude towards you for helping my family in this hard time. I only wish for better days to come, where I could help others just like you helped me” Michael (Computational Biology)
“ I don’t have financial support from my parents. When the Corona situation began, I was left with no income. This situation has put me on a hard spot. Therefore, I am so thankful for your generosity. Thanks to the donation I will be able to maintain a stable financial situation this month and hopefully things will go back to normal soon. In the future I want to work as a nutritionist and help to as many people as possible. Thanks again for your donation. I really appreciate it. Wish you all the best” Knan (Nutrition)
“Because of my mother’s cancer illness, we’ve been really struggling to keep our heads above the water with our finances – I wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart, for the great aid that you have given me. This donation will be a great help for me as it can relieve me and my mother from our difficult situation that hit us this past year.” Veronika (Linguistics & Asian Studies)
“It hasn’t been easy for me; my parents immigrated from former USSR to Israel and as immigrants they didn’t have sufficient financial means to support the family. This problem translated into debts that accompany my family to this day. I have a lot of loans to help me with the payments since my salary is not high at all and I’m still paying for my bachelor studies. That is why it is so important to me to get your help and I fully appreciate that you could do so and help students like myself, especially in these hard days. Thank you with all my heart for this!” Raya (Veterinary Studies)