West Coast Region

ABOUT ORT WEST COAST

Southern California Region

This multigenerational area, spanning from San Diego to Santa Barbara—the Southern California region has thousands of committed supporters dedicated to the ORT mission of improving lives through education around the world.  The region is poised to expand outreach, cultivate new donors, establish new relationships to help foster ORT goals of educating for life, global citizenship, and the Jewish experience.

What a thrill it was to stroll down a small street in Israel and discover by chance an ORT School — to see the students, the beautiful facility, the gates proudly displaying ORT in Hebrew. To realize this is but one place, along with its students, in many, many locations around the world that our chapter is working so hard to support. The schools and students are real. Our support makes a difference in the education and future lives of all these ORT students and ultimately their families and their communities.

Charlene Zuckerman, Laguna Nigel, CA

A number of years ago I, as well as other ORT members from my chapter, were privileged to have met two students from Kfar Silver. I was very impressed with the students’ enthusiasm about their classes and teachers at Kfar Silver as well as their own personal perseverance in overcoming obstacles. These two students represent how ORT can benefit large numbers of students and make dramatic improvements in their lives. I feel extremely proud to be a member of ORT, an organization that helps students reach their full potential.  

Laurice Singer, Fullerton, CA

Bay Area Region

The Bay Area region is poised to expand its activities to attract new supporters and build a significant presence in northern California. 1,000 ORTists and four active chapters make up the Bay Area ORT community that includes a diverse range of young professionals interested in tech education and community involvement,  families who believe education is the key to success, and longtime ORT supporters for whom ORT is part of their identity.

The backbone of the ORT Bay Area region is made up of innovative ideas and a commitment to social responsibility and global improvement – and region events reflect that community spirit. Our supporters believe that the ORT mission of “educating for life” is the key to repairing the world.

As a global organization, within the Bay Area there are also ORTists from different parts of the world who have made the Bay Area their home, and all the Bay Area supporters believe in the relevance of the concept of “give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach a person to fish, and you feed them for a lifetime.”

“When I moved to Pennsylvania from California in the 1970s, I didn’t know anyone.  I happened to find a great women’s organization called Women’s American ORT. I joined and still have friends that I made. I went on to become president and go to several conventions.  I always knew that ORT was an amazing organization, but that was confirmed many times over, after I went on the 2016 ORT Mission to Israel.  After seeing five ORT schools and meeting children and teachers, I now understand how important our donations are to changing lives.”

Arline Radine