(JTA) — Houston-area families affected by floods earlier this year received scholarships for Jewish day schools and overnight camps.
The scholarships were made possible thanks to two grants totaling $300,000 from the Jim Joseph and Avi Chai foundations, according to a statement published Thursday by the Jewish Federations of North America, which was entrusted, along with the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, with allocating the scholarships.
The federation distributed the scholarship funding in August in an effort to keep students registered in their early childhood and day school programs for the current school year.
More than 30 people died and hundreds had to be evacuated from their homes as 160 billion gallons of water descended on Texas and Oklahoma late in the month of May this year.
“The Memorial Day Flood hit neighborhoods with large Jewish populations especially hard,” said Lee Wunsch, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, in the news release. “The support of JFNA, the Jim Joseph Foundation, and The AVI CHAI Foundation helps ensure that children continue the Jewish learning so important to their families’ lives.”
“After a disaster, families need a range of assistance and support to return to normalcy,” said Al Levitt, president of the Jim Joseph Foundation, in the news release. “We can help families continue to access Jewish education that comprise such meaningful and important parts of their lives.”
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