The Home Page of ESRA’s new clean, fresh and modern website

After many months in preparation, ESRA proudly launched our brand new website in May. Although the address remains the same (http://www.esra.org.il/), this replaces the previous website, which has served us so well for the past ten years.

It was clear that the passage of time necessitated a different approach and so in conjunction with design professionals, Ertinet, a clean, fresh and modern feel was chosen. We also wanted to include as many new technological features as possible, to provide users with a ‘friendly’ way to find items of specific interest.

The Home Page enables quick navigation to your particular area of interest. Through the ‘Social & Cultural’ section, you can find out about local branch activity and check out forthcoming events available in your branch. If you are looking for something on a specific date, you will find at the bottom of the page a calendar which will enable you to see what is available on that day at any of ESRA’s more than 20 branches throughout the country.

Best of all, however, is that for some events, registration and payment can be made easily and online through the website. Thanks to a direct link with our database, the registration process automatically recognizes whether you are a paid-up member and will charge you for the event accordingly.

Also on the Home Page is a link to the latest ESRAmagazine which enables you to go directly to our universally loved magazine and read it page by page.

Under Projects – Educational & Welfare, you can also check out all of ESRA’s 30 different projects. Each one is listed with a separate page of description, whether under Educational or Welfare categories and there is a special page for ESRA’s Lemonade Fund for victims of Breast Cancer. Should you wish to support any of the projects, there is the opportunity to donate to any one of them with payment made with only a few clicks directly from the website itself.

ESRA’s Student Scholarships and Crisis Welfare Assistance are important areas of our work in aiding those in need of special financial help, and with the new website, applications can be made directly online with the information received in our database for evaluation.

Similarly, the Volunteering Opportunities area lists a huge variety of volunteering opportunities available for people who may have a little time on their hands and want to ‘give back’ in order to help others. This can include assisting in the running of the ESRA offices or a local branch and includes the rapidly expanding English Tutoring Program (ETP), which has recently received both recognition and recommendation from the Israeli Ministry of Education.

Another most important feature for everyone’s convenience is that you can now register for membership or renew your existing membership on-line directly from the website.

The intention is to keep the style and content of the website constantly under review and to try to adapt new ideas and suggestions wherever we can. The first step is currently underway, as the website is being translated in to Hebrew to enable ESRA to be introduced to a wider audience within Israel.

We hope you enjoy using the new ESRA website and look forward to hearing from you with any comments you have.

Terry Morris

ESRA Vice Chairman