Charitable Yums

Thinking about doing something for Israel but don’t have time or inclination to go there and volunteer in person? This Sunday you can do your bit for the beleaguered Jewish state by chowing down in local restaurants.

On May 2, 20 of Los Angeles’ kosher restaurants will participate in the National Council for Synagogue Youth’s (NCSY) second annual Eat 4 Israel campaign. The restaurants have agreed to donate 10 percent of their gross receipts from that day to one or more of the following charities: One Family, which helps victims of terror; Magen David Adom; Yad Eliezer, which provides food to indigent Israelis; Save Our Soldiers, which outfits members of the Israel Defense Forces with bullet-proof vests; and Hatzolah Jerusalem, a charity that provides medical services at the scene of terror attacks.

“We thought that this was a good way to help Israel and really no one loses,” said Tova Weiner, an 11th-grader at Yeshiva University of Los Angeles high school, who was one of the 15 high school students to organized the campaign for NCSY. “The restaurants will make up for what they give us by increased sales, and people are going out to eat anyway. We think this is a great way to raise money without having to go door to door.”

Last year, the Eat 4 Israel campaign was nationwide, and netted $6,000 from 20 restaurants and the restaurants reported a 35 percent average increase in customers. This year organizers decided to concentrate only on the local market, and are proud that they have 20 restaurants participating in the Greater Los Angeles area. They are hoping for similar — or better results than last year.

“As a Jewish Orthodox youth group we believe that supporting Israel very important,” said Sharona Motkin, a senior at Shalhevet. “We believe Israel is going through a lot right now, and anything we can do to raise awareness we do.”

For more information and a list

of participating restaurants, visit

www.angelfire.com/un/eat4israel, call (310) 940-5683, or
e-mail eat4israel@hotmail.com .