31 July 2012

The Catalogue of Experiential Visits to Non-Profits Visit to United Hatzalah Pays Off!

A secular Israeli, a Moslem Arab, a Haredi man and a national religious settler meet on a Jerusalem street following a car accident… Sounds like the beginning of a Israeli joke? This is actually the reality of routine work of the volunteers at United Hatzalah, Israel's immediate response emergency organization.

Our recent visit to Hatzalah's national headquarters took place on a scorching July day during which we joined a tourist in her 60's visiting from Boston in a moving and exciting tour led by Daniel Katzenstein, Director of International Relations for the organization.

The tour had three focal points:

  • the well-stocked equipment and emergency supply storeroom, serving 1800 trained volunteers all over the country,
  • the highly sophisticated dispatch room with its advanced GPS locating system and connections to the army's Home Front Command,
  • and the modest conference room where films are shown

We also saw the Ambucycles, met some young Haredi men serving in the national service program and witnessed an actual event which was displayed on the computers and then relayed to nearby volunteers in the field.

Our guest was very touched by the film demonstrating an actual rescue case and delighted by another which showed an interview with Alan Dershowitz. She genuinely felt that providing the funds to equip an additional Ambucycle would literally save lives, and donated $2,500 for the purchase of the appropriate paraphernalia. 



We now leave it to United Hatzalah and their dedicated staff to pursue a long term and meaningful relationship with their new friend, joining together with her and others to provide a very important service to the people of Israel.

Amutot: See and Join our Catalogue of Experiential Visits to Non-Profits: http://israelgrants.com/images/stories/catalogue.pdf

Tourists and Israelis interested in participating in a pilot visit to any of the experiential visits in our catalog are invited to contact Alisa Maeir-Epstein, the Catalog Project Director at - 0545-872260 Email – alisa@israelgrants.com

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