20,000th IMPACT! Recipient

FIDF’s IMPACT! Scholarship Program has enabled countless former combat soldiers to pursue their dreams of higher education. Captain (Ret.) Tamar Elfasi was recently named the program’s 20,000th scholar.

Tamar served as a military officer of the Kfir Brigade and later as a team commander at the Bahad 1 Training Base. After October 7, she was drafted into the reserves as part of the Casualty Unit in Nahariya. Tamar was married last year and is currently a first-year student of medical sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, her first step towards fulfilling her dream of becoming a doctor.

Tamar is the youngest of four children, all of whom received the IMPACT! scholarships. She faced adversity when her father passed away during her teenage years, and immediately began working alongside her mother to support the family.

IMPACT! is a one-of-a-kind, four-year scholarship, awarded to former combat soldiers from low socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition to funding education, the program also provides funds to cover soldiers’ living expenses while they study and gives them the unique benefit of direct contact with their sponsors in the United States. More than 13,000 alumni are represented in nearly every field, and dozens are now donors themselves.