June10/2019. Canadian Association for Israel Philately (CAFIP)

Donating Stamp-Collections to Boys Town Jerusalem

Our website often get inquiries from recently-bereaved children, who want to know what to do with the stamp collections of their parents/grandparents. They are not thrilled with the notion of giving their collections to stamp-dealers who will sell them "piecemeal". The bereaved would prefer that their collections remain intact in memory of their dear departed ones who were so lovingly devoted to their stamps.

I mentioned this to Les Glassman (Israel's unofficial ambassador of stamps) and I asked him if he knows of any organization in Israel that may be interested in taking over such stamp-collections. And he suggested Boys Town Jerusalem.

Boys Town Jerusalem - background.
Boys Town Jerusalem is one of Israel's premier institutions for educating the country's next generation of leaders in the fields of technology, commerce, education, the military and public service. Since its founding in 1948, BTJ has pursued its mission of turning young boys from limited backgrounds into young men with limitless futures. From Junior High through the college level, the three part curriculum at Boys Town - academic, technological and Torah - is designed to turn otherwise disadvantaged Israeli youth into productive citizens of tomorrow. The campus, located on 18 acres in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Jerusalem, is a home away from home for its over 900 students. More than 7,000 graduates hold key positions throughout Israeli society. Visit their website at: www.myBTJ.org

Boys Town Stamp-Club.
Subsequently I was in contact with Yoni Strimber (yoni@mybtj.org), the Director of International Development at Boys Town. He explained to me that the vast majority of their students come from low socioeconomic backgrounds and Boys Town offers a 24/7 home for these disadvantaged youth, ages 12 - 21. The school offers all kinds of extra-curricular activities, some very exotic such as Thai Boxing. They also have a stamp club. It operates in an informal capacity and has about 20 members who regularly visit the school's offices to receive stamps that donors send to the school for them.

Stamp-collection donations from abroad are either distributed amongst these students or sold for their value and then donated to the scholarship fund, as per the respective donor's request.

Contact Info.
Boys Town has an official charity office located in Toronto which can facilitate such donations. More information may be found at https://btjcanada.com/
Canadian Friends of Boys Town Jerusalem
211-3089 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON M6A 2A4
T: 416-789-7241  F: 416-789-1090   TF. 866-989-7241
Sharon Anisman Executive Director C: 416-854-6224 sharon@btjcanada.com

If you are interested in exploring this option, I would be pleased to put the Boys Town rep in contact with you.