JAA Update

Jewish Aid Australia — a founding member of Victorian Relief + Food Bank
Our involvement with this new entity comes from our strong involvement with One Umbrella as a Founding Member and as a driving force at Board Level.  VR+FB bring together more than 85 years of emergency relief experience and service to the Victorian community that will deliver a more efficient material aid program – comprising food, household goods, homewares and bedding. 

Victorian Relief + Food Bank

Based on a stunningly simple program developed by One Umbrella (JAA was the Founding Member and still is an active partner) with the Epworth Hospital, when hospital Catering Staff collect the food trays from patients after breakfast, instead of dumping everything into the rubbish, they quickly sort the unopened items (such as juices, long life milk, cereals, spreads, biscuits, tea, coffee) into a ‘collection bin’ and then dump all other items into the rubbish.  When full, the collection bins are then picked up by volunteers, the items are sorted and then delivered to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Richmond Housing Commission and Ardoch Youth Services.

Well, with the wonderful support of Peter Triferis, the Cabrini Hospital Food Services Coordinator, we have quickly moved from theory to practice.  Unbelievably in the first 2 days over 30Kgs of rescued food ready for us to collect!  We hastily put together a volunteer team to do the first sort - and standing around the dining room table of Lane & Arnold Shmerling - 6 of us took an hour to sort the various items ready to deliver!

Jewish Aid Australia Food Rescue Service

For updates on the exciting programs being undertaken by IsraAID around the world

Dec 2006: JAA is proud to announce that it has received a grant for the Australian Government’s Living In Harmony funded community project.

Dec, 2006: JAA becomes a coalition member of the Australian Make Poverty History coalition.

Helping Israel Help Darfur Refugees!

As the influx of refugees from northern Africa grew from a trickle to a flood in 2007, Israel was faced a crisis.  How to house, feed, educate, employ and process claims for refugee status for an unplanned group of people?  Jewish Aid, with our appeal partners Ameinu, the Union of Progressive Judaism and Shira Hadasha, raised $20,000 for projects across Israel

July 2007: JAA and our partners ran a series of Employment Forums for Melbourne’s African Refugee Communities