An important but widely unknown side of KKL-JNF activity was highlighted at the Herman and Paula Marks Foundation Ceremony at the ORT Bialik Education Center on Thursday, November 22, 2018, where grants were presented to 10 talented students with autism spectrum disorders, and to 4 support organizations that help people on the ASD spectrum.
The ceremony opened with an uplifting musical performance by the “Voices of ORT Bialik” group, which is comprised of youngsters on the spectrum who study at the ORT Bialik High School. Their first song, Accept Others who are Different by Ronen Williams, was written especially for the ensemble and received a thunderous applause. Voices of ORT Bialik was established 9 years ago and has performed at the country’s leading musical venues, in official ceremonies at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, and at the Israel Prize presentation ceremony. The current group is comprised of nine singers aged 16-21 who study in integrated classes at the school together with regular students.
KKL JNF’s
Elisha Mizrahi welcomed the guests and said that he was especially honored to be part of this event because it shows yet another humanistic side of KKL-JNF.
“We are known for
planting forests and fighting climate change. Not many people know that we also
support social issues and invest in promising students and in
a host of others who require our support. We are proud to be part of this wonderful enterprise made possible by the benefactors, Dr. Herman and Paula Marks, who lived in Germany and requested that a foundation be set up in Israel in their name, and be administered by KKL-JNF, to grant scholarships to people with special needs and organizations that help the socially and physically challenged.”
ORT Bialik School principal
Rami Porat said that it is not by chance that the ceremony was held in his school.
“We are proud to have 38 students on the Autism Spectrum on our roster who are all are doing well. We know that each and every child has qualities that need to be cultivated and developed and we watch our children closely and see them progress from year to year. I want to thank everyone who is involved in this important fund for their contribution and for the work they are doing.”
School teacher
Gila Sharon who is the musical manager of the Voices of Ort Bialik ensemble said that there is no better tool for the treatment of autistic children than music. “Through music I see them develop and change. Over the years I have seen how their verbal and social behavior improves, and their autistic mannerisms decline. Music is a method for integrating an autistic child into a normal school classroom. It works.”
Gila and co-teacher Tova Raveh then took to the stage and performed a number of powerful vocal duets.
Meet the grantees
Assaf Markovitch gave thanks on behalf of the individuals who were named to receive grants.
“Although I am used to the stage I am very nervous. This is a special occasion. I am on the autistic spectrum. I am a musician and a composer. I have a degree from the Music Academy in Jerusalem. I am currently studying towards a postgraduate degree and a teacher’s certificate. I also teach in my spare time. I know that you who are normal have no idea what someone on the ASD spectrum goes through. I am working with a young man on the spectrum who we thought could play the piano. For 6 months there was no communication and no music. Suddenly that changed and now he plays and understands. I did not give up on him because in the past there were those who did not give up on me.”
On behalf of the four organizations that were chosen to receive monetary grants, Shirley Kenney, Founder and CEO of Avnei Derech organization thanked KKL-JNF and The Herman and Paula Marks Foundation for their support.
“There is some assistance for youngsters with autism but very little help for mature people. That is why such a grant is very important. People often think that organizations such as ours receive government funding and that is not always the case. It is only because of grants like this that we can keep going.”
Itzhak Mofsik, the manager of wills, bequests and legacies at KKL-JNF, told the audience that the organization is currently resetting its goals and values for the future. “Alongside our traditional role of forestry and environment, I believe that KKL-JNF will soon become much more socially involved. Our green, brown, and blue flag representing forests, earth, and water may fly an additional color, that of social activism.”
He called on the four recipient organizations to come on stage to receive their grants.
The organizations awarded monetary grants by The Herman and Paula Marks Foundation were:
- Avnei Derech or “Milestones for Life”, works to change the way young adults on the Autism Spectrum integrate into society following post high-school;
- Lotem, an organization that works to make nature accessible to people with special needs, including those who have physical, sensory, and mental disabilities;
- ALEH Moriah-Gedera, a residential facility that provides round-the-clock medical, educational and rehabilitative care to over 100 young people with complex disabilities; and last but not least,
- ORT Bialik School.
Before calling the beneficiaries of the individual grants to the stage, Elisha Mizrahi revealed why he was personally thrilled to be part of the ceremony:
“KKL-JNF supported me when I was a young student at Ben Gurion University and financed my research on the Possibility of farming citrus in the Negev. Today we all eat tangerines that come from Ein Habesor. KKL-JNF understands the importance of investing in the youth.”
The student grant recipients were:
- Shaked Litman;
- Yonatan Rozenman;
- Yair Matalon;
- Roi Goldman;
- Guy Lange;
- Yuval Ratner;
- Tamir Gabai;
- Eyal Shacham;
- Assaf Markovich; and
- Ran Amitai.
Ran Amitai addressed the audience: “I am on the spectrum and I have been in academics for over 10 years. I am currently studying towards my third degree and this is the first time that I have been offered assistance. Thank you very much.”
Michal Dadon, who represented the donor family, said in her address that she was speaking from her heart.
“I am touched by what I saw and heard here today. Paula Marks immigrated to Israel in 1936 where she met her husband Hermann. The couple married and returned to Germany in 1957. They had no children but kept in very close contact with Israel. The couple passed away, first Hermann, then Paula. In their will, they bequeathed everything to KKL-JNF for distribution to organizations and people that help the challenged in society, such as
social workers and art therapists. Hermann was my late father’s brother, my uncle. This year we decided that we will contribute greater sums of money to issues relating to autism.”