To strengthen the Partnership between Atlanta and the communities of Minsk, Yokneam and Meggido, the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta is planning a June mission to Belarus and Israel. Participants in the mission will include members of the Federation's Partnership and International Planning and Allocations Committees, as well as representatives from the Federation's local beneficiary organizations.

The mission's theme is "Helping Hands in Partnership," according to Francine Hazan, Partnership Coordinator, who adds that participants will do hands-on service projects with members of the Minsk and Yokneam/ Meggido communities. The goal is to bring 20-30 Atlantans to Minsk and then to Israel, where they will be joined by members of the St. Louis Jewish Federation's Partnership Committee before returning to the U.S.

Hazan says that she is arranging peer-to-peer home hospitality at various points during the trip so, for example, an Atlanta pediatrician will be able to make a kesher (connection) with his or her colleague in Minsk. "We want to make it very personal," she says, "to give people an experience they really can't get otherwise."

Plans are still in the works, but mission participants may help deliver meals, volunteer with after school programs and take part in other services that the Federation helps fund in Minsk and Israel. The group also will make site visits to previous grantees and those seeking funding from Federation. Missions such as this – and previous visits to Minsk and Israel – are to build connections "on many different levels -- community to community, institution to institution and person to person," Hazan says, adding that especially in Minsk, these relationships offer hope. "A lot of Jews there feel threatened by anti-Semitism, and they count on their connections with their Partner communities to give them the strength to continue living proudly as Jews."

The mission will take place June 22-July 1.  For more information on the mission, please contact Francine Hazan at (404) 870-1611.