Each
year in its fall meeting, the Board of Directors of Pilgrims of Ibillin goes through a rigorous planning process to develop an annual Operating Plan which outlines Pilgrims’ goals for fundraising and programming over the coming year.
Since 1995 we have sent more than $1,700,000 to peacemaking organizations in the
Holy Land. Funding from Pilgrims of Ibillin has helped provide financial
aid for needy, worthy students; construction of buildings; purchase of
equipment such as computers; and other special programs and projects. Your contributions will help Pilgrims continue to make this kind of difference.
Goals for 2008 At its October 2007 meeting the Board of Directors
reviewed a list of projects that were in need of funding for 2008. The
following items were selected by the board.
Scholarships ...The Ministry of Education of Israel provides some
subsidy for each student to pay for
teachers-salaries but those funds have been
reduced by 50% in the past three years. It is necessary for families to pay a
modest tuition. Due to the present economic situation in Israel, parents of
many of the students are unemployed or under-employed. In fact, 60% of Arabic children
within the state of Israel live below the official poverty level.
Therefore, it is imperative to provide some scholarship aid to needy
families. Sixty-five% of MEEI families receive some financial assistance
for their students' enrollment. No family receives 100% tuition assistance.
All families contribute to the support of educating their children.
Goal: $38,00
Gifted Students Program .... 2007-2008 is the first year Mar Elias High School has had an independent class for talented and gifted pupils. Having such a class requires additional financial support, but this offering also helps MEEI maintain its place at the educational peak among schools in Israel. Goal: $10,000
High School Expansion and New Construction ... Two new upper floors are being added to the Mar Elias College building
to provide 16 brand new rooms for the High School. These new rooms will add additional capacity to allow MEEI to accept more of the 200 students who are currently on the waiting list. Some of the new classrooms will also replace outdated, unattractive rooms which have had to be used despite concerns about mildew and the discouraging appearance. Current students will be better served in an upgraded educational environment, and prospective students will continue to be attracted to MEEI, despite increasing competition from new high schools in other villages. Therefore MEEI's blend of top-level pedagogy and emphasis on ethics and values will continue to attract the top students from a 50-mile radius around Ibillin.
Goal: $222,000
The first $100,000 for this project has been provided by a generous donor who visited MEEI in 2007, saw the need and possibilities, and made the gift that allowed the dream to move toward reality. The balance of the funding is being sought in 2008 to complete the project.
Renovation of the Original High School Building ... 
Since Mar Elias High School's founding in 1982, financial resources have been directed to providing for an excellent education of all MEEI students, while deferred maintenance needs took their toll on the school's buildings. More than 25 years later, the original building is weather-damaged and much of the interior needs to be updated. A renovation plan for 2008 will include covering the entire exterior of the high school with Hebron Stone, giving the high school excellent protection and renewed life for many years to come. Goal: $100,000.
A generous grant of $100,000 from the F.I.S.H. Foundation of Plainsboro, New Jersey has enabled this renovation.
New Computers for a High School
Computer Lab ... There are three computer labs
in the high school. One of the labs has computers that have 128mb hard drives, which are inadequate for the updated software that is needed. In
order to be prepared for higher education in the university or to enter the job
market the students must have experience with the latest in computer
technology. Goal: $15,000
New Computers for an Elementary School Technology Resource
Center ... There are presently two computer rooms serving almost 900
students: one serving the 7th and 8th
graders and one serving the first 6 grades.
Each room has 20 computers, but every elementary class has 40
students. Therefore an additional room
is highly needed so that all pupils in one class can learn at the same
time. During 2008 Pilgrims of Ibillin
will provide funding for an additional 40 computers at $600/ea. Goal:
$24,000
Funding for Peace-Building Projects throughout the Holy Land ...
To diversify
our grant-giving to include multiple foreign charities, Pilgrims of Ibillin will
annually provide small grants (usually in the range of $2500 to $8000) to
projects in the Holy Land beyond Ibillin.
The following priorities will guide the choices, and every project will
be visited by Pilgrims’ staff or board representatives before it is approved.
Pilgrims will invest in schools in the Holy Land
that share the Mar Elias Educational Institutions’ goal of Building Peace on
the Desktops of Students.
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We will give Peace-building grants to support Palestinian Christians’ efforts to provide
meaningful jobs and livable circumstances so that members of this community can
remain and thrive in their homeland.
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We will use our diversification grants for unique projects
where Pilgrims’ contribution clearly makes a key difference. We prefer that our funding will help something
happen on its own, rather than being “one drop in a large bucket” of funding.
In
February 2008 Bob Sawyer, Joan Deming, and George Shalabi visited each
of the programs described below and recommended the following grants,
which
were approved by the Pilgrims of Ibillin Board on 2/13/08.
The First Peace-Building Grants were given in February 2008 from
2007 funds held over for this purpose.
$2500 Peace Child Israel
$5000 St. George Melkite Church Sewing Project, Zababdeh (Church pictured above)
$5000 Friends' School, Ramallah - Water Resources
$5000 Friends' School, Ramallah - Scholarships
$2500 Al-Haneen Theatre, Lotof Nweisser, Nazareth
$2500 Leadership Development Program, Diyar Consortium, Rev. Mitri Raheb, Bethlehem
$2500 Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Bishop Munib Younan, Jerusalem
$25,500 total
Visit our Diversification Page for more detail about each of these projects!
Become a partner in support of
Pilgrims of Ibillin by:
- Praying for the faculty and students of schools working
for peace in the Holy Land.
- Making a contribution to the Annual Fund.
- Hosting a fund raising event in your home.
- Inviting the Mission Committee of your church to sponsor a
fund raiser and/or designate mission funds.
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Annual Goals
