Assisting bereaved siblings and orphaned minors of fallen IDF soldiers and victims of terror with online learning during COVID-19
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, KKL-JNF and Israel’s Administrator General, who serve as trustees for the estate of the late Nicolas Bauman, have decided to procure laptop computers for use by some 700 families in which there are bereaved siblings or orphaned minors aged 4-18. The late Nicolas Bauman, a Jewish resident of France, bequeathed his vast 55-million NIS estate to the State of Israel for the benefit of bereaved families of fallen IDF soldiers and victims of terror.
KKL-JNF, under the leadership of Daniel Atar, and Israel’s Administrator General, Attorney Sigal Yaakobi, serve jointly as trustees for the Nicolas Bauman Foundation. They have decided to use its funds for the benefit of youngsters who have lost siblings or parents in military operations and / or terrorist attacks and who are entitled to assistance under the terms of the testator’s will. The decision to purchase computers was made jointly with the Ministry of Defense’s Department of Families and Commemoration; the National Insurance Institute’s Department of Hostile Action Casualties; the Yad LaBanim organization [for fallen IDF soldiers and their bereaved families]; the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization; and the Organization for Victims of Hostile Acts.
This is the latest in a series of supportive actions decided upon by the trustees this year. Earlier decisions include the provision of further-study scholarships for high-school graduates who have lost a sibling; the Perach mentoring project for bereaved siblings aged 6-17; and the organization of youth camps for bereaved siblings aged 11-16.
KKL-JNF World Chairman Daniel Atar said, “The purchase of laptop computers for children and youngsters from bereaved families now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, sends a very important message that we never, at any time or under any circumstances, forget the price these children have paid to ensure that the State of Israel can continue to exist in safety. These computers are vital for online study, especially now, and they will continue to serve the children later on, too. The COVID-19 crisis has brought us complex challenges that oblige us to adapt to a new reality of social distancing rules, and I hope that these computers will help the children to maintain a full and active routine”.
Attorney Sigal Yaakobi, the Administrator General, said: “During this period of COVID-19 crisis we have come to realize that access to computers and on-line communication is indispensable to our new routine. This is even truer of children, who require these resources for online learning and the maintenance of social contacts. In accordance with the objectives of the estate, the trustees have worked together to respond to this important need on the part of children and young people from bereaved families in which a sibling or a parent has been lost to military action or terrorist activity.”