Simcha LaYeled’s volunteers serve as the organization’s central source of strength and endurance. From high-school and university senior students to adult volunteers, our network of volunteers is comprised of members from a range of professional and cultural backgrounds.
All our volunteers undergo training before and during their volunteer service, including ongoing consultations with mental health professionals and/or social workers.
Approximately 300 volunteers participate weekly in our diverse activities, and close to 600 volunteers contribute to various events throughout the year.
We welcome volunteer individuals to our varied programs including to serve as Big Brother or Big Sister Mentors, to operate entertainment hours at hospital play rooms nd waiting rooms, and to stay with hospitalized children throughout their stay. Their endless devotion and dedication enables us to realize all the association's activities.
Simcha Layeled also invites large companies or organizations who wish to volunteer, nonrecurring or permanently, for specific activities with our organization. We are also able to host individuals or families visiting Israel.
For more information contact us at adina@s-l.org.il
Volunteer Opportunities
Big Brother/ Big Sister Mentor Program
Our Big Brother/ Big Sister Mentor program offers sick children, ages 6-8, with a supportive framework that attends to their individual needs. Ranging from the emotional to the social - including integrating sick children into normative environments such as schools and extracurricular activities - children are matched with volunteers who serve as mentors, coaches, tutors and more.
Once every three weeks, children and their Big Brothers or Sisters venture together on a social outing, intended purely for fun and enjoyment.
Once every six weeks, groups of children and their Big Brothers or Sisters attend a larger, group outing where they meet other participants in the program, strengthening their social skills among peers and within a group.
Big Brothers and Sisters are overseen by a Group Coordinator as well as a Social Worker to address any issues that may arise during the course of their involvement with the program, as well as areas that require specialized attention.
Hospital Attendance
Parents and family members spend a lot of time at hospitals treating their sick child. In recognition of their need to rest, take care of other children in their family, go to work, or just generally allow parents to take a break, Simcha LaYeled recruits volunteer attendants to stay with hospitalized children so they are not alone. Working according to the needs and wishes of parents and their children, Simcha LaYeled ensures that children are well tended to while their parents also tend to their needs, away from the hospital ward.
Operating Hospital Activities
If you have some special talent in a certain field of interest, and you are interested in entertaining hospitalized children then we’ve go the framework for you! Whether it’s story time, juggling, clowning around, or just playing with kids, your contribution to a children’s ward play room is an invaluable source of inspiration and fun for children and their families.
Tutoring
Some of the children undergoing daily treatments are also struggling to keep up with the demands of their regular school frameworks. Although they are forced to lose many hours of study due to their frequent treatments, tutoring assistance in a range of subject areas will help ensure that these children stay on track with their educational development. Tutoring is not limited to a single child and is implemented in coordination with the branch manager and the families themselves. It can also be conducted at the hospital or at the protégé's home.
One-time, non-recurring events
Excursions and trips, summer camps, holiday parties and similar events, usually require a large number of volunteers (in accordance with the number of children), including those who do not volunteer within our Big Brother/ Big Sister Mentoring Program. We are seeking volunteers who can assist us with logistics, entertainment or production of these special events.
Organizing birthdays
Many children are forced to celebrate their birthdays during their hospital stay. By joining the birthday organizing team, you will be able to contribute to the creation of an atmosphere of true joy for the children on their important day.
Kabbalat Shabbat
On Friday afternoons, we organize a Kabbalat Shabbat in certain hospital departments.
The volunteers pass from one room to another with musical instruments, singing and bringing happiness to children who are forced to stay at the hospital during weekends as well, due to their illness.
The medical staff
All the association's activities are accompanied by a volunteer medical team that includes: doctors, paramedics, ambulance drivers and other medical orderlies. If you have some medical training, we would be happy to involve you with our activities.
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