“THE SIRENS WENT OFF, AGAIN, IN OFAKIM. HOW MANY TIMES IN A DAY CAN A PERSON RUN TO THE SAFE ROOM? AND THE KIDS, SCREAMING, IN FEAR AND TRAUMA. BUT I NEEDED TO GET FOOD. THE HOUSE WAS EMPTY. I HAD TO GO OUT AND BRAVE THE ROCKETS. WITH A PRAYER IN MY HEART, I WENT TO THE STORE. ANOTHER SIREN, 15 SECONDS TO GET TO A SAFE ROOM. HASHEM, PLEASE HELP ME. I CAN’T GO GET FOOD…”
SARA FROM OFAKIM
This story of a resident in Ofakim is typical of the thousands of requests for food that Yad Ezra V’Shulamit receives every day. Netivot, Kiryat Malchi, Ashkelon or Beer Sheva were not evacuated — and are in the direct line of fire daily.
Getting food has become an issue — for hundreds of thousands of residents of the south.
“The government evacuated anyone within 4 kilometers of Gaza. The state pays for them to be in a hotel where they get breakfast and dinner. But if someone is 4.5 kilometers away they have to stay put or find a friend in another city to take them in. They are stuck. Thousands of people call us for help with getting food.
Yad Ezra V’Shulamit gives out 12,000 food baskets every week to the poor with 14 trucks and 4 warehouses. “We have the infrastructure in place to get food to those under fire,” explained Eli Kafif, CEO of Yad Ezra V’Shulamit.
Over 40 trucks have already been sent to the south. Each truck contains enough food for 200 people for a week. “Our staff has been very brave. They go down even though sirens have gone off during several deliveries. With everything else people are going through during these difficult days, having food in the home shouldn’t be an issue,” stated Founder Aryeh Lurie.
Beyond getting food to families, many evacuees have lost their jobs (and their homes) and have no income. “We were getting so many calls from evacuees in Jerusalem, we purchased $1,000,000 worth of vouchers at local stores to distribute to displaced families,” Mr Kafif explained.
And then came the calls from the army for water and snacks. Why is the army calling a tzedaka organization for water? “We didn’t understand why the army needed water but the calls kept coming in from base after base. Many of our staff members have boys in Gaza and they knew where to call,” said Aryeh Lurie. “We found out that the water the army gets is in trucks or from water hydrants and doesn’t taste very good, so soldiers were not drinking enough. Commanders started to worry about dehydration so they called us.”
Yad Ezra V’Shulamit gave over 100,000 bottles of water to soldiers as well as snacks — and the requests keep coming.
“It is really beautiful to see how everyone is doing something to help people and the soldiers. You feel such an amazing sense of unity in Israel now. No one thinks or cares if someone is religious, not religious, secular, Sefardi or Ashkenazi. We are all Am Israel,” said Eli Kafif.
The people evacuated at hotels seem to have it better than those still in the south. However, living in a hotel in one room for weeks on end with no schooling or gans for children and nothing for them to do all day has presented its own challenges.
“We realized we had to do something to help the families in Jerusalem evacuated from their homes. Besides buying toys for 4,000 children, we sent puppet shows, activities and things to do in the evening for the teenagers. Although everyone is, thank G-d, physically safe, many are experiencing trauma, PTSD and need someone to talk to. We send our social workers and staff to the hotels everyday,” Aryeh Lurie said.
“This is a war not only against Israel. This is a war against every Jewish person worldwide and I ask every single person to help us get food to those who need it, and give a hand to your brothers in Israel who have lost so much. When Am Yisrael pulls together, nothing is too much for us and we can win this war. Not only the war against Hamas and bringing back the hostages. We can win the war against Hamas’ plan of breaking us — and our spirit. Please help us lend a hand and get food and basics to those in Israel,” requests Aryeh Lurie, founder of Yad Ezra V’Shulamit.
To donate go to www.yadezra.net/foodtrucks.
