Volunteers

 It had been said that an army marches on its stomach.  Israel is one big army; yet, it seems to march on its volunteers.

Willie and I are volunteering in a department called Yeutz La-Kashish meaning Advice to the Elderly.  There are a few thousand of us across the country. They visit the elderly at their dwelling places, including Old Age Homes. Three mornings a week they see the public and help them to fill all the red-tape forms possible for every type of request that rises.  They translate and deal with the government pensions and official letters for the holocaust survivors from Germany and Spain and Morocco. They advise regarding Old Age Pensions and subsidies. They make phone calls.

Willie visits people in their 90th, every week. I join him on these visits once in a while. Usually, I am in the office recording the work others do with the public. Today, I recorded zillion phone calls … well, ok less but …

I noticed that these phone calls fell into different categories. One volunteer phones twice a week to check if the elderly received their pension checks in the banks and were able to buy groceries.  Another, calls to wish happy birthdays and to check if they are well looked after and if their needs are met. A third might invite those who lost spouses to support groups for the widows/widowers, and another might invites people to a workshop on Alzheimer.  

People called from our Northern Israel to Sderot in the south when the rockets hit. Elderly were forgotten alone in houses and were not able to make it to bunkers or to have a meal. Our callers located them and reported to local social workers who in turn moved their volunteer army to help them. In the last few week calls were made all over the north, including the Arab villages by Arabic speakers to check that the elderly who are in need of assistance have heating, electricity and home care workers during the cold front that moved down on us unexpectedly.  We have Russians, English, Arabic, Spanish, Romanian, German, Georgian, Portuguese and Hebrew speakers who will make special visits to people who speak only their mother tongue.

And these are only some of the volunteers for the elderly.

Israel has volunteers on farms; Willie and I were blessed to volunteer with Sar-El for the IDF a few times; there are volunteers in bus stations and train stops; there are some in libraries, in hospitals, in malls, in municipalities, in schools, in the Home Front Office…Israel volunteer army is as large as its heart.

Sixth day, 2014 - thank you God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who is bringing His people home to their land and giving them a heart full of His love; Thank You God for the Volunteer Army of Israel.

Proud to take part,
Orith