Two women from Chicago who traveled to Israel with the Jewish organization Momentum have translated their experience into change-making on a communal level, leveraging their personal and professional connections to raise more than $60,000 across two separate campaigns to aid Israelis in the aftermath of the Swords of Iron War.

Bonnie Vozar, who sits on JCC Chicago’s board of directors, was inspired to take action after joining Momentum on unity missions in November 2023 and March 2024. The organization actively encourages participants to absorb what they learned while in Israel and see how they can manifest positive change for their community and Israel when they return home.

Momentum, which works closely with Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, is an organization that brings Jewish parents (the majority of whom are mothers) from around the world together with the goal of connecting them to Israel and their Jewish heritage.

These projects are just one example of the work of the Momentum Action Network, which inspires the organization’s community of dedicated women to tap into their connections and become agents of change for their own communities and for Israel. There are currently 628 projects listed on the network’s website, which consistently updates that collection of initiatives for assisting Israel in its post-Oct. 7 recovery. The global network of Jewish mothers and fathers, leaders, influencers, change-makers, and partner organizations have created and participated in more than 500 grassroots initiatives in 24 different countries.

“Momentum encourages us to tap into our network and encourage others to join us on a journey of mitzvot,” Vozar said, adding that even though she is not particularly religiously observant, the act of doing good deeds on a communal level appealed to her.

It helped, of course, that because so many Israelis need assistance post-Oct. 7, the call to action strongly resonated with her community.

“I met with so many Israelis and everybody had a story to tell. Every person I spoke to was somehow connected to this war,” she said. “What I’m doing now is because of Momentum. The unity missions compelled me to do something significant. I wanted to be useful.”

Initially, Vozar spoke to members of the Jewish community and was able to raise some $20,000 in items for female soldiers. That translated to four oversized duffle bags of items that carried clothes, female hygiene items, and 50 breast pumps.

In total, she has raised more than $50,000. She was able to do so in a short period of time because she reached out to a dedicated network of Jewish mothers—many of whom she met through the Momentum trips—who wanted to be agents of change for Israeli society.

“This is the highest level of tzedakah. These are individual donations that come to me anonymously and then the recipients are selected at random. There’s also no ability to write this off one’s taxes — it’s giving in its purest form,” Vozar said.

Vozar first became acquainted with Momentum in 2022 when she joined a trip to Israel as part of the organization’s year-long program, known as the Journey of Growth.

“It was a life-changing experience,” she said. “I hadn’t been to Israel in eight years and that trip really helped me reconnect with the country. I’ve spent 25 years in philanthropy, but I used to not do much for Jewish causes. Before the unity missions, I hadn’t done anything useful for the land of Israel since I helped pick Jaffa oranges in 1978.”

Meanwhile, Chicago resident Jane Faynshteyn embarked on a separate initiative to raise funds for Anat, a survivor of the Oct. 7 terror attacks from Kibbutz Holit. Anat’s daughter and parents were critically injured when terrorists shot through the door to their bomb shelter where the family barricaded themselves for hours.

While her youngest daughter has since physically recovered, her mother is still undergoing surgeries to repair her leg and her father lost one of his legs.

Since Oct. 7, Anat has been living with her husband and four children—one of whom has special needs—in a cramped two-bedroom apartment. Moreover, Anat can’t work right now as she’s busy caring for her injured parents, grandmother and child. Her husband only recently returned to work.

To date, Faynshteyn raised some $12,000 of her $25,000 goal to provide Anat’s family with clothing, shoes, books, classes for children, medical expenses and mental-health services.

“We both are from the former Soviet Union, so there was an instant connection,” she explained regarding her first meeting with Anat while she participated in a Momentum Unity Mission to Israel in May. “Everything she said was heartwarming. She had the most positive attitude even though she witnessed such horrors.”

“Anat is not interested in handouts, rather, she wants to find a way to move on with her life,” Faynshteyn added, noting she is also working on bringing her to Chicago so she can share her story.

Like Vozar, Faynshteyn was inspired by Momentum’s ability to galvanize its community of dedicated women, demonstrating to them that it’s possible to lead the way in formulating projects that affect positive change in their communities and for Israel.

“Momentum asked us to keep a journal throughout our unity mission,” Faynshteyn said. “We’re told to start by first thinking about people we know who may be able to help us realize our goals when we get back home. It became clear to me that I needed to leverage my personal and professional connections to impact Anat’s life for the better.”

She added, “In the early days after Oct. 7, I wasn’t sleeping, and I spent time sharing information on social media. This was not enough, and I felt stagnant. I’m so grateful for Momentum for showing me how to create meaningful change that we all can be proud of.”