Makom Kavuah

When you walk into a shul, you'll see immediately  that people sit with their families. Most often,   you'll see a parent sitting with a child. That  is the norm in a shul. If someone doesn't have   a family member to sit with, they don't have  a place, and they don't know where to go. There are countless boys and girls who we simply  don't know about. Maybe they even walked through   the doors of a shul and then they quickly  turned around. Maybe they stayed one Shabbat,   two Shabbatot, but eventually realized that  shul is not their place. And eventually they'll   stop coming to shul with ramifications  that we cannot even begin to envision. We created Makum Kavuah with the intention  of ensuring that every single child knows   that they have a place in shul. There are  few opportunities where it takes so little   investment, and you're able to get such great  benefits. To bring Makom Kavuah to your shul,   it's literally as simple as placing a little  box in your Rosh Hashana-Yom Kippur mailing. "Do you want a seat?" Yes. "Do you want someone to sit  with your child?" Check. At that point, the OU steps in and helps  you through the rest of the process,   including how to find the right  mentors to ensure the child's safety. The goal is not to replace anyone in their  lives. The goal over here is to add another   layer of support in the simplest and most  effective fashion possible. We all know we need to   make a difference. By implementing programs where  our shuls are able to demonstrate that we see you,   we care about you, we are making communities  that make Hashem proud. The question is not,   "should we bring Makom Kavuah to our  shul?" I believe the question is,   "how can we not?" The fact that a shul could  say that we have a place for children who   don't have a parent. We have a place  for a divorced couple's child. That   sends an incredibly powerful message that every  child, every boy and girl has a Makom Kavuah.