Pitchon Lev Aid Centers

Immediate aid to needy individuals and families

For ten years, Pitchon Lev has operated two aid centers for the needy in Israel. One is located in Rishon Lezion, serving the center of Israel, and the other in Carmi’el, serving the north. At the Pitchon Lev aid centers we extend immediate assistance to people in need by distributing food baskets, special food baskets for infants, clothing, shoes, and providing the services of a barbershop/hair cutting salon, employment guidance, and legal counseling.

Aid is extended to all who come to us regardless of sex, religion, creed, race, ethnic origin, or nationality.

Aid recipients are generally referred to us by social workers from all over the country. However, every request for help, even in the absence of a social worker’s referral, receives immediate attention; people seeking help are not made to jump through bureaucratic hoops, but receive a food basket and basic items of clothing on the spot. Afterwards, new recipients are asked to furnish a letter of referral from a social worker.

Assistance to the needy at the centers takes place on a number of levels:

Immediate assistance to the needy including families and individuals, the physically challenged, the elderly, new immigrants, families with many children, the unemployed, the working poor, single-parent families and soldiers without any family in Israel.
Support for institutions helping the needy As a national humanitarian umbrella organization, we support dozens of soup kitchens, senior citizen centers, yeshivas, shelters for battered women, orphanages, and shelters for at-risk teens, throughout Israel.
Assistance to the needy through regional councils and dozens of organizations distributing food In order to expand the scope of assistance in all parts of Israel, we help needy families through regional councils throughout the country.

Every week, activity reaches its peak at the aid centers on Thursday, the day when we give out food to the needy. A family basket of foodstuffs, worth NIS 250, provides food for approximately two weeks for a family of five. The basket includes basic items, legumes, bread, vegetables and refrigerator items. Families with infants receive an infant food basket, worth NIS 110, which includes formula, jars of baby food, food needed for a baby’s healthy development, and disposable diapers.

The peak periods of the year are the High Holy Days in September-October and before Passover. At these times, we hold food distribution marathons in order to shorten the long lines of people coming for help and ease the process of getting help by cutting down on waiting times.

The aid centers’ activities are made possible through the help of hundreds of volunteers year-round. Assistance is extended for a set period of time determined at the outset by the social workers and/or by the families themselves.

The assistance is extended with dignity and love, while maintaining a homey, informal atmosphere. Pitchon Lev staffers personally know the majority of aid recipients, and make every effort to make the waiting time a pleasant one and to use that time to lend an ear to these people’s difficult daily experience.

How can you help the aid centers?

You may volunteer to pack baskets and distribute them at the aid centers. To volunteer in this way, please fill out your personal information, and one of our representatives will contact you.
You may help by making a donation using the secure donation form on this website.
You may bring foodstuffs, formula and clothing to our aid centers at the addresses below:

Pitchon Lev aid centers:

Rishon Lezion: 9 Lishansky St., in the shoppers’ parking lot, new industrial zone, Rishon Letziyon

Carmi’el: 1 Levona St., Carmi’el

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