This past year, the residents of Sderot faced daily rockets and arson attacks in the recent war between Israel and Gaza. With Sderot just miles away from the Gaza border, residents only have a matter of seconds to seek shelter.

This had a tremendous impact on Sderot’s youth. The stress and anxiety that come with facing the countless rockets fired at their homes can be detrimental to the growth and development of these teens.

Over the summer, we offered a wide variety of activities for Sderot’s youth at our Neighborhood Youth Centers. These activities were designed to help them relieve stress and relax after the incredible trauma of this past year’s war.

We started the summer with an inter-Center soccer tournament. Teens from two of our Centers faced off in epic weekly games of soccer. In the final championship game, the winning Center received beautiful silver trophies in recognition of their achievement!

Building off the success of our previous Graffiti workshops, our teens learned different techniques and strategies in graffiti art every week. At the end of the workshop, we let the teens reimagine the exterior of our Youth Center, designing beautiful graffiti art on the building.

Finally, our weekly baking workshop was a smashing summer success! Our teens loved learning new baking skills and bringing home delicious treats to their families. This week, our teens focused on making chocolate cookies. These cookies looked, and tasted, absolutely delicious! We can not wait to try more of the incredible creations our teens make!