My name is Mikhal Shvartsman; I am an Israeli Jew currently living in the Boston Area in Massachusetts. I am raising money to help improve Israel for the people in it and around it while helping me fund my education abroad in Israel.

I am honored to be participating in the Dream Israel Teen Initiative and raising funds for important projects. The money that participating teens, such as myself, are raising money that will go towards funding several important initiatives; such as making Israel accessible to people with disabilities and special needs, providing funding to the Fire and Rescue Services that help protect and save people from terrorist attacks, and more.

I have selected to help fund scholarships for students of the Arava Institute. The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies is an Israeli academic institution dedicated to preparing future leaders from Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, and around the world to cooperatively solve the regional and global challenges of our time, while also encouraging diversity and peace. The institute is a center for the development and innovation of renewable energy and energy conservation, sustainable agriculture, and most importantly, its mission is to prepare leaders from the middle east (and other regions) to solve the region's environmental issues and challenges.

If I meet my fundraising goal, JNF will provide me with a grant towards my own education ensuring my opportunity to meet people whose lives have been changed due to our support in Israel and to explore my own roots in my homeland. Please consider supporting this important initiative and my efforts to meet my fundraising goal.