JFAR’S PARTNERSHIP PROJECT IN ISRAEL WITH THE JEWISH NATIONAL FUND - 2020 to 2023

red mountain therapeutic riding center

Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center at Kibbutz Grofit, located 45 minutes north of Eilat in the Arava Valley, provides horseback riding therapy to nearly 200 children with physical, mental disabilities, and emotional and behavioral issues.  The Center is also serving 23 Ukrainian families who have settled in the region. 

Therapeutic riding has been used since the 1950s as a tool for improving the lives of people with a range of cognitive, physical, and emotional impairments.  Since its establishment in 1996, Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center has worked toward the development and advancement of this unique therapy in the southern Arava, making it accessible to the population of a remote region that lacks many other essential services.

Because horseback riding gently and rhythmically moves the rider's body in a manner similar to a human gait, riders with physical disabilities often show improvement in flexibility, balance, muscle tone, strength, posture, coordination, and motor development.

About the jnf-jfar project with the riding center

Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center provides essential care for some of the most vulnerable in Southern Israel.  Yet one critical component of care was missing:  a bomb shelter to protect them from missile and terrorist attaches.  (The Center is within range of many of the recent terrorist attacks in the region).  Israeli law now requires all public spaces to provide protection against attacks.  Without a bomb shelter, Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center would have been forced to close.

As part of JFAR's mission to support global Jewry, we made a commitment in 2018 to donate a bomb shelter to the Red Mountain Therapeutic Center to avoid the closure of that institution. We have received from Grofit in the Arava, southern Israel, great images from the final construction of the bomb shelter that the Jewish Federation of Arkansas, along with Commission Fields and Agape Church, helped to build through the Jewish National Fund.

JFAR’s commitment to build a fortified classroom (bomb shelter) at the Center has been completed. We are pleased to show the images of the new bomb shelter. This video speaks louder than words. Please enjoy and appreciate what we can do altogether.

Now that the fortified bomb shelter/classroom is complete, the JFAR Board has approved continued support of the Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center.

In 2023, a grant to Jewish National fund from the Federation will support improving the area around the shelter with a garden, seating area, and shade. JFAR’s Israel Allocations committee recommended this project to continue the strong ties between the JFAR, Red Mountain, and the Arava region.  The project will connect the fortified classroom to the nearest building with a metal pergola and outdoor lighting. Cathie Dorsch from Commission Fields has been working closely with  the Center to plan this area and is also raising funds to see this dream become a reality.

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Click here to read about our previous JNF-JFAR Project.