MERCAZ USA Newsletter — Summer 2009

JNF Opens Safe Playground in Sderot

After years of enduring ongoing attacks by Kassam rockets from the nearby Gaza Strip which restricted the children of Sderot to their homes at the end of the school day, now these children have a $5 million safe recreation center to play at, thanks to the Jewish National Fund.

Built inside a former textile factory that was converted into a fortified indoor children's playground, the new facility, equipped with a half dozen shelters and an emergency broadcast system, was opened this past Spring with a festive ceremony during Purim.

The 21,000 square foot facility with room for 500 people at any one time includes a mini-soccer field, video games and a climbing wall, all surrounded by anti-shockwave walls. It is divided into two areas – one for infants and toddlers and the other for children in elementary and high school.

Plans call for the facility to be open from early morning to late at night, with seniors using it during the morning hours while children are in school and young adults converting it into a disco at night. Psychologists will be on-site for intervention with children and families in need of their services, as well as a medical station.

JNF President Stanley Chesley and the JNF Board of Trustees, which includes a half-dozen MERCAZ representatives as part of the Zionist delegation, conceived and oversaw the playground project. As Chesley remarked: "During waves of rocket attacks, there is nowhere for kids to go, except to school and then immediately back home. JNF has answered the call in its own way by completing this vitally needed project for the children of Sderot."

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