Alongside year-round work conducted both inside and outside of schools, Youth Futures places strong emphasis on activities during periods when there are no formal educational frameworks. During school vacations, the program operates as an alternative framework, offering enriching activities and enjoyable experiences for the children. In each community where the program operates, the local team designs a vacation enrichment plan that includes a wide variety of activities. In addition to these local programs, Youth Futures leads two nationwide program days each year:

National Volunteer Day during the Hanukkah Vacation

Youth Futures nurtures and promotes the values of mutual responsibility, volunteering, and community contribution. Social involvement serves the community, while also empowering the children in the program by allowing them to experience being on the giving side. Throughout the year, Youth Futures teams lead various community initiatives together with the children and their families. In addition, Youth Futures holds an annual National Volunteer Day, during which all Mentors and children across the country volunteer for the benefit of their local communities. This special day, which has become a tradition within the program, enables children and Mentors spread across Israel to collectively engage with all circles of life and diverse sectors of Israeli society.
At each Youth Futures site, the teams develop an initiative for the Volunteer Day following a shared thinking process with the children about how they would like to make an impact and contribute on that day. This experience serves as a very important foundation for the participants, allowing them to feel like a meaningful and active part of the community to which they belong.

Youth Futures on the Israel Trails

Once a year, prior to the spring vacation, children and families in the program, together with Youth Futures staff from over 60 communities across the country, set out on a nature excursion close to their homes. The goal of the trip is to connect all program participants to nature, strengthen their knowledge of and love for the country, and raise awareness of environmental quality and sustainability. This values-based excursion has proven to be highly meaningful, especially in our modern era, in which screens occupy an ever-growing part of our lives in general and in the lives of our children in particular.
As a program that works with many children and families throughout the country, we believe it is our responsibility to foster a connection between the children and families we support and the natural landscapes of Israel, and to expose them to additional opportunities for hiking, shared experiences, and quality family time.