A Drive To Make a Difference

When a drive to make a difference impacts thousands of lives 

Ten Gav co-founders Naomi Brounstein and Vivi Mann have been helping vulnerable Israelis with basic goods and services for over a decade

Dana is a 29-year-old third-year medical student from Netanya, who survived the Nova party massacre on October 7, enduring unimaginable trauma. Her mental health deteriorated to the point where she found it impossible to function, let alone resume her studies. In her darkest hour, Ten Gav stepped in, providing the financial support necessary for Dana to continue her education.

For the past 10 years, Naomi Brounstein and Vivi Mann have worked tirelessly helping others, while largely traveling under the radar. With their focused, intelligent approach they have improved the lives of thousands of Israelis through their relationships with social service agencies, along with a core group of givers, which started as friends and family and has grown exponentially – mainly through word of mouth.

From providing essential home appliances to funding tuition costs, psychological therapies, beds, and computers, Ten Gav empowers at-risk youth, families in need, single mothers, victims of domestic violence, older Israelis, and children and adults with special needs.

Since 2014, Naomi and Vivi have helped 7,155 families with 14.8 million ILS (USD 3.9 million) in basic goods and services.

This past year has seen things shift up a gear, in part as a response to the war, but also a natural stage in their growth. "Ten years really makes you stop and think," says Naomi. "Where are we going next and how do we want to look in another ten years?"

With the encouragement of some of their long-term friends and supporters, they are now embedding themselves in the giving landscape for the longer term. This includes building a small, professional staff team, expanding their advisory board, and increasing public relations.

"We really enjoy what we do, we always have," says Vivi. "That said, we know we need to look to the future to ensure Ten Gav's longevity."

Both work close to full-time hours, yet as volunteers.

Naomi and Vivi first met following their respective aliyahs in the 1990s. Both are now long-term residents of Raanana, where they live with their families.

Originally from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Naomi trained as a lawyer and later completed an MA in social work in Israel.

From Maryland, USA, and with a professional background in management consulting, Vivi was determined to use her skills to help Israelis leave the cycle of poverty. When they met one another, it was clear they both shared a passion for making a difference and could use their skills and experience to build something new.

"You reach a point after you have been living in Israel for a while, that you want to give back," they agree.

After several meetings and discussions, where it was obvious they had a natural synergy, Naomi and Vivi came up with a unique one-to-one giving model. This took the form of an online crowdfunding platform to match donors with modest needs that the state or existing charities cannot fund. They decided on the name Ten Gav, a play on words in Hebrew and English suggesting "giving back".

Ten Gav's strong relationship with social services is a large part of what makes the model work. "The best decision we made was to work through the social services network," Naomi says. "It means every case is verified and carefully vetted and we work with people we can trust. Also, we are very careful not to present stories where another organization can easily provide what is needed."

"The social services system is really very good in Israel," says Vivi. "However, at a certain point, the demand outpaces supply. This is where Ten Gav comes in. We are constantly thinking how we can best support the system, not replace it."

Social worker Sharon Friedman from the Department of Youth at Risk of Jerusalem, says Ten Gav is like "oxygen to breathe" for her clients. Among requests that have been successfully crowdfunded are piano lessons for a girl whose family could not afford them, a ping-pong table for a child with social difficulties, and an afterschool program for a child from a single-parent home.

In 2021, Naomi and Vivi decided to address the issue that approximately 10,000 Israeli children do not have a safe, stable bed to sleep in. Instead, they sleep on worn-out mattresses on the floor, share beds with others, or sleep on the sofa.

They named 2023 The Year of the Bed and delivered over 600 beds to needy children, including over 270 in a city-wide pilot in Jerusalem. Over the past three years, Ten Gav has provided more than 1,500 beds, mostly to children.

Michal and Barak, parents to five young children, received a pull-out triple bunk bed from Ten Gav. Their youngest child has Down's Syndrome and Barak suffers from PTSD from his time in the army. Until recently, four of the children slept on old single beds which did not leave any room for a closet. They describe the arrival of the triple bunk bed as "truly a lifesaver!"

"When the war erupted on October 7, we swiftly adapted our approach from one-to-one to one-to-many," shares Naomi. "Overnight, we mobilized to fulfill a surge of group requests from social service agencies nationwide."

Ten Gav provided tablets to older Israelis in Kiryat Malachi, who were isolated from their usual social activities due to the ongoing war. They also stepped in to fund emergency accommodation for over 550 self-evacuees from the north and south. Many of these families did not qualify for government support but urgently needed it.

Ten Gav also distributed laptops to evacuee children and teens from Sderot in pop-up schools around Israel, as well as tablets to children with special needs from Ofakim.

The last 12 months have been a turning point for Ten Gav, says Naomi. "We have realized just how much our existing donors believe in us, and we have pivoted to the needs of Israelis as best we can, given our size. This included helping 40 survivors of the Nova festival together with the Department of Social Services in Netanya. A program we are particularly proud of."

"It's probably time we stop seeing ourselves as small," says Vivi. "We have grown significantly over the last couple of years. When we started out, we would wait to receive individual requests from social workers to see if we could fulfill them. Now we go out to them with items like beds and summer camps that can help hundreds at a time."

"Vivi and Naomi are visionaries." says friend and long-term supporter Naomi K. Eisenberger, Director of The Good People Fund. "They identified a problem and found a creative way to solve it. As with all our grantees, our focus is to make them more visible and help them outgrow us."

This summer Naomi and Vivi are funding day camps and pool passes for over 1,500 children who come from low-income families affected by the war. Many of the children living in these cities have experienced months without school and structure, with some still living in shelters or displaced and living in hotels.

Looking ahead, Vivi and Naomi would like to see Ten Gav become more known in both Israel and abroad, to increase their circle of givers, and deepen their impact.

"Requests from social services departments are on the increase," says Vivi. "We are navigating an unprecedented period in our reality and we have an uncertain view of what lies ahead. These are really tough times for the most vulnerable in Israeli society."

What is certain is that Naomi and Vivi plan for Ten Gav to be there to help for the long term.

Visit www.tengav.org to learn more.