Ve’ahavta is an organization that is firmly rooted in Jewish faith, history and tradition. We have developed relationships based on goodwill and trust across denominations in Toronto’s Jewish community, and have cultivated many productive and positive interfaith partnerships. Over our ten-year history, we have developed the infrastructure and expertise to implement international and local projects that are seen as models to be replicated in other parts of the world.

Ve’ahavta has extensive experience in recruiting, training, and monitoring our volunteers, and incorporate the Jewish mitzvah (commandment/good deed) of “Tikun Olam” (repairing the world) and tzedakah (charity) into our organizational mandate and into every project we undertake. Ve’ahavta currently has eight full-time staff members and a volunteer roster of close to 1,000. This ratio has allowed Ve’ahavta to leverage its efforts around the world to produce hands-on and widely respected results.

Some of our initiatives:
Local - Homeless Outreach Program/Homework Club at Regent Park
In Toronto we have a van that goes out 3 times a week to visit the homeless. Over 10,000 people have been visited, over 18,500 meals distributed, we have responded to 550 emergency calls and distributed 62,000 pairs of socks. Every week our volunteers help 50 children living in Regent Park with their home work. Many of these children are newcomers to Toronto and live in an under-serviced community.

Guyana
Each February, in partnership with the Lions Club, our multidisciplinary team of volunteers (physicians, nurses, laboratory technologists, a pharmacist, physiotherapist, social worker, and support workers) departs for a two-week trip to some of the most remote areas of Guyana to provide free medical care to local communities. Our team fundraises individually to cover all costs associated with their trip. Our team brings over $400,000 of donated supplies with us each year. We set up mobile clinics and over a two-week period treat approximately 2000 patients.

Zimbabwe
Ve’ahavta and the Salvation Army Howard Hospital have worked in partnership since 1998. Ve’ahavta’s focus at the Howard has been on a variety of medical research projects, training of local staff, support and development of the Hospital’s HIV/AIDS and TB treatment program, and ongoing facilitation of supplies and volunteers to the Howard.

Zimbabwe is in a volatile and precarious state. Conservative estimates place the HIV/AIDS infection rate at 40% of the overall population. The number of AIDS orphans are rising quickly, and the government has shown a steady reduction in support of humanitarian aid organizations and foreign workers in the country over the last number of years. Despite these daunting realities, the interfaith nature of Ve’ahavta and the Salvation Army has allowed us to proceed with a replicable model for healthcare service and delivery in Southern Africa that has garnered a great deal of respect from various international aid bodies. Missionary hospitals have become the most successful entry point to humanitarian medical support in the developing world, as the Salvation Army has managed to remain politically neutral even in Zimbabwe.

Life-Saving Surgery
Ve’ahavta was instrumental in bringing formerly conjoined twins to Sick Kids from Zimbabwe for life-altering separation surgery.

World Crisis Response
Ve’ahavta has provided assistance in many regions including Sri Lanka, Sudan, Argentina and El Salvador.

You can light one million candles from one candle and not diminish the strength of the original candle.

Avrum Rosensweig