PHOTOS: Making Sure Israel’s Elderly Have A Happy Pesach

(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

As Pesach preparations are moving full speed ahead, United Hatzalah’s Ten Kavod volunteers are working to make the lives of Israel’s elderly that much better this Yomov season. In addition to the weekly visits and free medical checkups that Ten Kavod volunteers provide for the elderly, these committed men and women are going around the country to ensure that senior citizens, many of whom are Holocaust survivors, have what they need for the Yomtov.

In Sderot, Ten Kavod volunteers teamed up with Amdocs and displayed incredible concern for the welfare of the elderly in their community by refurbishing and renovating homes that were in disrepair. During the regularly scheduled weekly visits, volunteers from the program saw the state of their homes and decided that it was time for a change. With tool boxes and paintbrushes, Ten Kavod volunteers from all over the city and region got together and repaired what needed to be fixed in dozens of homes. The senior citizens were overjoyed; their cleaner and safer newly renovated homes will greatly enhance the quality of their day-to-day life from here on out.

In the Haifa region, Ten Kavod youth volunteers, including many children from the Druse community, collected food items and made gift packages that were then delivered to the senior citizens in a number of communities.

Ten Kavod volunteers in the Ra’anana region distributed food packages to senior citizens in Ra’anana, Herzliya and Kfar Saba. The packages included items that are necessary for the holiday such as grape juice, matzah, canned goods and other items.

Itzik Hadad and Yisrael Menachem from Kiryat Ata noticed that one of the elderly families that they help each week had a broken air conditioner. “I went to a new couple that I am supposed to help for the first-time last week,” said Hadad. “I asked if they need help with anything. They told me that their air conditioner does not work. I called my region’s Ten Kavod director Dudi Hirschberg and told him what they told me. He told me that it will be taken care of. That same day Yisrael Menachem showed up at their house and fixed their air conditioner. I was shocked.”

The couple called Hirschberg back after their air conditioner was fixed and said: “For months we have been freezing at nights and sleeping with heating packs on us because the heater hasn’t worked. Thanks to Itzik and Yisrael we slept well for the first time in months.”

President and Founder of United Hatzalah Eli Beer said: “As Pesach begins we will recite at the Seder, ‘Whoever is hungry, let him come and eat’. When the senior citizens, who have gone through so much, are able to sit down and celebrate Passover with all the dignity they deserve, it will partly be in thanks to the efforts of the more than 500 volunteers in the Ten Kavod project, all of whom participated in helping the elderly across Israel feel more comfortable this holiday. My thanks go out to these volunteers and their families, and my best wishes for a happy, healthy and safe Pesach goes to all the citizens of Israel.”