Shira, a 7 year old from Or Akiva, Israel has a twin brother and a 5 year old sister. Her father died of a heart attack while dancing in Shul over Simchat Torah last year. Since then her mother had been struggling to put food on the table which means that sometimes Shira and her siblings went to bed hungry.

Research shows that if a child arrives at school hungry, they will lose one hour of learning time a day; hungry children are unable to concentrate and less likely to learn. Meir Panim’s Or Akiva Branch have been introduced to Shira’s family and are now working to make this family whole as much as possible. They are now getting daily hot nutritious meals, a Food Shopping Card before the High-Holidays and clothing. Shira joined the After School Club which begins each afternoon with lunch, and participated in the summer camp.