There is a buzz in the air! YEDIDIM’s international “Are You GAME?!” night 2012 is around the corner!

Sounds exciting…but what’s YEDIDIM, you may be asking?

You may not be familiar (yet) with the organization known as YEDIDIM, but no doubt someone you know, be it a yeshiva bachur, Cheder boy or a Bais Yaakov girl learning in Israel, has benefitted on some level from their work.

YEDIDIM is the largest Anglo Big brother/ sister program in Eretz Yisroel.

YEDIDIM helps youth of Anglo background overcome the many challenges facing adolescents in today’s world. Through its very successful mentoring programs, YEDIDIM inspires and empowers them to stay on the right path, avoiding the pitfalls that would otherwise put them “at risk”. YEDIDIM helps prevent the problems before they happen in the first place; obviously the preferred method.

YEDIDIM has three main divisions which help youth in various stages of life.

The first program, YEDIDIM’s mentoring program works with boys who come to Eretz Yisroel to learn for a year in various Yeshivos for Americans across the land, who need a little extra boost in their learning skills and/or a little boost in their connection to Yiddishkeit. This year of mentoring gives them the strength they need when they are ready to go out on their own and set up their own Torah-true homes. YEDIDIM works with the schools and offers the know-how as well as the actual mentors to connect with their students, something the Yeshivos usually cannot do on their own.

The second YEDIDIM division focuses on Anglo high-school and post high school boys who have unfortunately strayed from the path of Torah. These youth are accepted and respected and gently shown the way back to a life of Torah and Mitzvos.

The third YEDIDIM division, and perhaps their pivotal project, is working with Anglo youth who reside in Eretz Yisroel who display signs of weakness in areas of Torah observance. Working hand-in-hand with parents and schools, YEDIDIM reaches these youth before they fall away and does whatever is necessary to achieve this lofty goal. Sometimes it means getting a better school to accept them, sometimes a good family to take them in, whatever it takes to assist these precious Neshamos in riding out the turbulent waves in the storm of their adolescent years.

YEDIDIM has the staunch support of Gedolei Yisroel, including Rav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz Zatzal, Rav Chaim Pinchos Scheinberg Zatzal and YBLC”T Rav Moshe Shapiro Shlita, just to name a few.

To date, YEDIDIM has helped thousands of boys and girls become productive members of Klal Yisroel.

Besides for the standard big brother/big sister programs, YEDIDIM has some specialty programs which help boys and girls who are displaying clear signs of low self-esteem and self-worth, an issue that many teens of today struggle with, rekindle their soul before they get lost.

Specially trained YEDIDIM Mentors familiar with the nisyonos of the day and armed with the knowledge and know-how to reach the teens of today, who struggle with a myriad of issues present in modern society, help them combat their low self-esteem related issues, have had tremendous success with countless youth in this vital area.

Besides for the ongoing training seminars for mentors, YEDIDIM also offers a popular four week summer seminar for educators, called “Connecting with Today’s Teens” which offers a vast amount of timely and pertinent information for educators who teach teen-age youth. These seminars are raved about – by Mechanchim and mentors alike – for their clarity, usefulness and realistic “down-to-earth” approach.

One of the ways in which YEDIDIM finances their activities – salaries for mentors, Shabbatons for youth, seminar costs etc. – is their annual “INTERNATIONAL ‘Are You GAME?!’ NIGHT”, a fun and exciting program with participants across the globe.

Participants compete in a specially designed quiz program, provided by YEDIDIM and designed to have something for everyone, regardless of background or level, with various levels of prizes and incentives for the winners of the program.

Anyone who is interested in being a hostess can organize an event in their own home, any night during the week of July 1-7 2012, and have a fun-filled evening while at the same time helping YEDIDIM help the Anglo youth in Eretz Yisroel; you may even be helping someone you know personally!

Please visit YEDIDIM’s website, www.yedidimonline.com for more detailed information and rules for “INTERNATIONAL ‘Are You GAME?!’ NIGHT 2012”

For more information about YEDIDIM or to register for the event or receive a hosting package please contact YEDIDIM, In Eretz Yisroel 02-540-9000, in USA 718-640-1761 or email [email protected]

(L. Halevi – Writing Done Write)