I am excited to be participating in Plant Your Way to Israel, raising funds to support Jewish National Fund’s critical forestry efforts while at the same time raising funds for my own visit to Israel!

As a Jewish teen, I'm very fortunate to be attending the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, MD. Next year being my senior year, the school offers a "Senior Experience" to end high school. It starts with graduation in February and ends with a three month long trip to Eastern Europe and Israel. I have always wanted to visit Israel and the opportunity to raise awareness and fundraise for such a great cause at the same time is such a privilege.

I'm very involved in my areas Jewish community. I'm very active in D.C Council BBYO, and I just finished my term serving as President (Godol) of my chapter Simon Atlas AZA #126. I'm also very involved with community service; I volunteer for the Friendship Circle (a program matching Jewish teens with kids with disabilities), as well as Emeritus at Potomac (a senior living community). I love helping kids with special needs, as well as residents who tend to get very lonely as they age. 

Financially, my family and I can't afford the entire trip, however I've chosen to get a paying job and have already started putting money in a bank account. I'm hoping with some generous donations I can make my way to Israel! 

The program is simple: Half of all the funds I raise will be put in a special account for my trip, and the other half will go towards JNF’s green initiatives in Israel. I’m raising funds to specifically support JNF’s forestry work – work that has helped Israel enter the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees.  But their work is not done and I hope I can count on your support.

Jewish National Fund began as a dream in 1901 to reestablish a homeland in Israel for Jewish people everywhere.  In the years since, JNF has made the dream a reality by greening the desert with millions of trees, building thousands of parks, creating new communities and cities for generations of Israelis to call home, bolstering Israel’s water supply, helping develop innovative arid-agriculture techniques, and educating both young and old about the founding and importance of Israel and Zionism.

Please help me reach my fundraising goal for my Plant Your Way to Israel experience. Going on this trip truly means so much to me. I've never experienced The Holy Land and I hope to do it with all my classmates in 2015 with whom I've been with since Kindergarten. Please change my life and make your tax-deductible donation today!

Thank you!

Drew Hein