The Gaza War may be over and calm may have been restored, but the Israeli children who suffered under the barrage of Qassam rockets have a way to go before they can put the nightmare behind them.

That's why summer camp is so important for the children in Ashkelon and neighboring communities.

While summer is traditionally a time for children to celebrate their freedom from schedules and responsibilities, too little structure can be a risk for children who were traumatized by exploding rockets in their neighborhoods.

Netzach Israel, the Masorti community in Ashkelon, has been running a 3-week summer day camp for years, and starting two years ago, it reached out to the children of Sderot to include them in the program, even offering a limited number of scholarships for those in financial need.

Now, in the months following the Gaza War when Ashkelon itself became a regular target of Hamas missiles, the congregation's summer camp has become a place of support for the children of the area.

To cope with the challenges of providing a supportive and fun environment for children traumatized by rocket attacks, Netzach Israel has greatly expanded its scholarship program so as not to turn away any child needing a place to go this summer.

For the past two years, MERCAZ USA has helped Netzach Israel's summer camp as part of a larger effort to provide summertime relief to the children of the region. This year, with many other groups involved in helping the children of Sderot, such as the wonderful safe indoor playground opened earlier this year by the Jewish National Fund, MERCAZ is focusing its efforts in this limited fundraising appeal entirely on funding scholarships for the Ashkelon summer camp.

With your help, we can provide a safe, secure and supportive environment for the children of Ashkelon. But to do this, we need your help and generosity again this year.

We invite you to click here and help support this special effort organized by MERCAZ USA.

Through your act of generosity, we can help the children of Ashkelon put the nightmare behind them.

Click here to donate.