Merrick Jewish Centre Invites Community to Play Day for Sderot

Members and friends of the Merrick Jewish Centre will gather at Newbridge Road
Park in Bellmore on Sunday, October 6th
from 9:30-11:30am for a community-wide play day to help children in Israel
who can’t play outside.

The Play Day for Sderot will feature fun and games for all ages, from
2-100. Activities will include a toddler play area, arts & crafts, adult softball game, frisbee, t-ball
and soccer drills and more.

The play day for
Sderot was created to allow local families to have fun while raising money to
help children in Israel.

For nearly a decade, residents of Israel’s
western Negev have endured continual rocket
attacks from the bordering Gaza Strip. Hardest hit is the town of Sderot—located less than one mile from Gaza—whose children have grown up with the
psychological trauma that comes with living under the threat of attack. Because
they must always be within 15 seconds of a bomb shelter, an afternoon at the
park turns into a potentially dangerous activity, forcing children to spend
most of their time indoors. And even during periods of relative quiet, when
reports of rocket attacks don’t make the headlines, they continue to occur.

In 2009, the Jewish National
Fund built a 21,000 sq/ft secure indoor playground and community center in
Sderot, providing kids with a sense of normalcy, giving them a fun place to
hang out with friends and offering parents peace of mind that their children
are playing in a safe environment. Play areas double as bomb shelters ,
ensuring all occupants can quickly reach safety during a rocket attack.

The Sderot Indoor
Recreation Center
operates at a deficit every month, but no child is ever turned away for lack of
funds. Participants in the Merrick
Jewish Centre and Jewish National Fund Play Day are encouraged to contribute
what they can to sponsor children in Sderot who want to attend the play center.

"The indoor playground is a lifeline
for us,” says David Bouskila, Mayor of Sderot. “It gives the children a chance
to be normal, and has changed the way this city behaves and feels. It is the
best thing that has happened to us."

For more information on the Merrick Jewish
Centre’s Play Day for Sderot, please visit www.merrickjc.org or call (516)
379-8650.