|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Welcome to the Bay Area’s Virtual Campaign. The goal of this first time virtual
campaign is to raise funds for a specific project of American Friends of Magen
David Adom, which provides support for Magen David Adom in Israel. Most people
are unaware that MDA receives no government funding and relies on Friends
Societies across the globe to supply medical supplies and equipment, ambulances
(MDA requested 75 ambulances from its American Friends for 2010), blood service
needs, paramedic training and renovation of antiquated emergency stations.
|
|
Israel was, and is, built piece by piece. One of these pieces is Magen David
Adom, Israel’s emergency medical and ambulance service and blood bank rolled
into one. Another organization took care of trees. Magen David Adom took care of
emergencies. A host of other agencies and philanthropies took care of what, in a
developed country, is more seamlessly interwoven with the government.
When Magen David Adom was founded, there was no country. The “Magen David Adom
Tel Aviv Society” was founded in 1930 in the wake of the murderous Arab riots of
1929 that attacked Jewish farming and urban settlements.
When Israel was founded in 1948, it inherited all of these pieces. And so, as we
marked the 62nd anniversary of Israel, we mark the 80th anniversary of Magen
David Adom. It has saved countless lives, distributed countless pints of blood,
built emergency centers throughout the land, and performed literally millions of
similar mitzvot.
What a piece it is. Let us suffice with just a couple of examples: “If not for
Magen David Adom, no one could live in Sderot,” a local shop owner said. He was
referring to the on-call medics of Magen David Adom who race to the scene of
every rocket attack from Gaza. “I can only sleep at night because they will be
there if we need them.”
Ditto, in northern Israel.
Ditto, for women in sudden childbirth. Ditto, for emergencies all over Israel,
natural or otherwise.
Magen David Adom is Israel’s
largest volunteer organization.
That’s the organization.
Guess who pays for it? Our donors - people of good will around the world. We mark
70 years of what is now called the American Friends of Magen David Adom, which
is hardly resting on its laurels. As if keeping the entire operation going were
not enough, new facilities in Holon and Mitzpe Ramon and a new national blood
center are on the drawing board, not to mention major reconstruction of the
stations in Jerusalem and Nahariya and others.
Israel at 62: Not a
grandiose dream, but a practical one, stone by stone, soldier by soldier,
student after student, MDA station after MDA station, irrigated patch by
irrigated patch. And now, skyscraper by skyscraper. It’s beginning to add up.
And the world is taking notice.
portions taken from an article written by Hillel Goldberg of Intermountain
Jewish News, 4/20/10
|
|
|
Are you interested in participating in a Friends Group in your area?
|
|
|
|
Are you interested in a leadership role in your community?
|
|
|
|
Would you host a meeting at your home or office on behalf of AFMDA?
|
|
|
|
What sort of activities would interest you?
|
|
|
|
Would you be willing to help identify prospective donors and/or open doors to
facilitate a meeting with them?
|
|
|
|
Ask us a question.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
AFMDA - American Friends of Magen David Adom is a tax-exempt organization under
Section 501(c) (3) under the Internal Revenue Code.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|