My name is Hannah Beemer, and I will be a Bat Mitzvah on June 3rd 2017.

For my mitzvah project I decided to help the North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ) Limudiah Program, which I thought would be very impactful for many children. By supporting the Limudiah program I will help elementary school children reach the grade level of their non-Ethiopian peers, or even do better than their grade average. These Ethiopian Jewish students study many extra hours, focusing on subjects like writing, reading, and math.

The Limudiah program also makes sure that they have nutritious lunches. This part especially spoke to me because, if these kids have better lunches, they will have at least one really good meal a day. Also, if they are granted this they will have more energy to think about studies and not on eating.

I initially had an interest in this program because it provides many resources that these young kids need. While doing more research on the organization, I learned that many Ethiopian Jews have many struggles when coming to Israel. This is due to many factors, such as barriers in language, unemployment and the lack of good education for their children. When these children don’t get a proper education from a young age it could lead to many problems in their future.

This program is very important to me because there are many children my age or younger who do not receive the many educational opportunities that we sometimes take for granted. I feel it is very important for kids to obtain all of these necessities such as nutritious lunches, after- school assistance, and people who care to help them stay on grade level and excel in their studies. Learning about this made me think that, if I do all I can to support this program, it can create better futures for these Ethiopian-Jewish children.

For all of these reasons, this is why I chose this for my bat mitzvah project.

My fundraising goal is $2,500.00, which I hope to surpass. Please help support my Mitzvah project!