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YRF DARCA RAISES $1.6 MILLION FOR
LOW-INCOME ISRAELI STUDENTS
NEW YORK, May 17
– More than 450 supporters of Youth Renewal Fund (YRF) Darca
packed the organization’s annual gala at Tribeca’s Spring
Studios Monday night, raising $1.6 million to boost
social mobility for lower-income students in Israel.
The sold-out YRF Darca gala at the trendy Tribeca space
featured Columbia recording artist Rachel Platten,
whose hit “Fight Song” is an anthem about never giving up.
YRF Darca supports a network of 25 schools and two learning
centers across Israel that provides students in lower-income
communities with a first-class education. The schools
include students in grades 6-12 regardless of academic
ability, socio-economic status or background, emphasizing
academic achievement and the values of tolerance, democracy
and active participation in national and community life.
The YRF Darca event honored YRF Darca leaders Allison
and Bennett Rosenthal of Los Angeles, who are helping
to grow the organization in the L.A. area. Bennett Rosenthal
is a co-founder, director, and senior partner of Ares
Management and co-head of its Private Equity Group. A
retired attorney, Allison Rosenthal is active in the Parent
Guild at The Windward School and is also on the board of
NuRoots, which works with unaffiliated and inactive Jews in
their 20s and 30s to create inspired local experiences and
engaged Jewish communities.
“Our success wouldn't be possible without the exemplary
leadership and vision of our dear friends Allison and
Bennett. As longtime supporters, Allison and Bennett have
dedicated over 25 years toward advancing the scholastic
excellence of Israel’s underserved populations and have
spearheaded the exponential growth in LA,” said YRF Darca
CEO Raphael Sutton.
YRF was founded in 1989 as Youth Renewal Fund with the goal
of bringing education to Israel’s lower-income communities.
In June of 2014, YRF merged with the Darca network of
schools in Israel and became YRF Darca.
Israel faces one of the largest and fastest-growing gaps in
educational achievement between rich and poor, challenging
Israel’s predominantly knowledge-based economy. Through
Darca schools, Israeli children discover and harness the
power of education as a means to improve quality of life for
themselves, their communities and their country.
Only half of Israeli high school students passed their
matriculation exams in 2014-2015, making them eligible to
apply to university, though in poor communities that number
dropped to 37 percent. However, that same year, 85 percent
of lower-income students in YRF Darca schools passed the
exams.
“Our students are not only outperforming their peers and the
national average, but they are achieving at the same or
higher rates as students in communities with far greater
resources and where far more money, likely six to eight
times what we have is spent. Just by attending a YRF Darca
school, our students are doubling their chances of
post-secondary education,” said Bennett Rosenthal,
the gala’s honoree and a YRF Darca board member.
To learn more about YRF Darca and to get involved, please
contact Raphael Sutton at
Raphael@yrfdarca.org.
About YRF Darca:
YRF Darca is the philanthropic funding partner for the Darca
network of schools in Israel. Darca provides Israeli high
school students in lower income communities—regardless of
ability, religion, birthplace, geographic or socio-economic
status -- an excellent education designed to improve social
mobility. The schools emphasize academic achievement and the
values of tolerance, democracy and active participation in
national and community life. Darca currently operates a
network of 25 high schools and 2 learning centers in 16
Israeli cities, educating over 15,000 students in some of
the country’s most under-resourced communities. |