Passover 2008 in Kiryat Ata

By Luke Gasiorowski

An event was held for 101 Holocaust survivors from Kiryat Ata at a curriculum center in Kiryat Ata. During the event, a marvelous concert was performed by 2 astounding artists- Shaul & Yulia Ben Har- who performed beautifully on the violin, cello & flute various different pieces from classical composers such as Mozart, Dimiku, Vitorio Monte and others. In between the pieces, the artists spoke in Russian to the Holocaust survivors (since all of the survivors were from the former USSR) and shared a few testimonies from their personal lives. The Holocaust survivors enjoyed the concert very much, as some of the them fell into tears from the beautiful music.

At the end of the event, each Holocaust survivor received a special Passover gift-package containing matza, a bottle of wine, chocolate and perfume. They were very much happy and ecstatic to receive theses parcels and to know that someone cares for them.

For more photos of this event, CLICK HERE

Sudanese Family Sponsored by the HHC

By Luke Gasiorowski

The HHC has been helping a Sudanese refugee family in need by sponsoring their accommodation in downtown Tel Aviv since December 2007.

At the beginning two families had moved into this one apartment temporarily until one of the families managed to move into a place of their own.

The family of 6 (2 parents+4 children) came from Sudan about a year and a half ago. They had lived in Tel Aviv the majority of their time in Israel. The father speaks English (broken English). The children speak a little English and they are learning Hebrew.

When the HHC found this family the father was working at different jobs and had a hard time keeping them due to language barriers. The family was about to get evicted from their apartment so the HHC found them another apartment near their old place and helped them move in. At first, due to their difficult financial situation they received food from the HHC as well just to get them started off in the new apartment.

Currently, the children of the family are all going to school where they learn Hebrew and other regular scholastics. The father is still juggling in between jobs and the same is with the mother. The whole family attends the local Christian church through which the HHC distributes weekly food to 48 Sudanese families.

Apart from monthly accommodation payments and the food purchases that were made at the beginning the HHC is also paying the family's monthly water, electricity and maintenance payments that are required with the accommodation.

Links:
Photo Gallery

Passover 2008 in the Southern Cities of Israel

By Sebastien Petrone

Last week was an absolutely incredible week, definitely stressful with all the preparation work HHC representatives had in regards of providing 1,020 food parcels to the cities of Kiriat Gat, Sderot and Ashdod, but very rewarding in terms of efficiency and amount of people who got blessed for the Pessach holiday…

The first few days of the week were about logistics and planning, picking up the large amounts of wine and different items, finding volunteers for putting together the pessach parcels, calls…etc.
In the mean time, regular daily visits were continued in the city of Ashdod to the war veterans, and needy people from the ghetto.
The actual Pessach work started on Wednesday when all the goods were brought together to the “Amutat Zicharon” building in Ashdod, where they were centralized to do all of the wrapping work. In the mean time, a team of about 20 people was gathered together by Sebastien, of which were 7 teenagers, retired volunteers from "Amutat Zicharon" and few ladies who wanted to help out with this project.

The volunteers did an incredible job, worked fast, had a great attitude and were very flexible. It turned out that the wrapping paper that was bought was going to require an insane amount of time to prepare the parcels, so Luke and Sebastien changed the plan, and were graciously given close to a 1,000 plastic bags by an Ashdod superstore, which to them came like a holiday miracle!

Whithin a day, everything got wrapped for the cities of Sderot and Kiriat Gat. Sebastien loaded the van, very early on Thursday, and started to drive and drop off to the cities of Kiriat Gat and Sderot. Meanwhile, also very early, the people from the list of Ashdod started showing up at the “Amutat Zicharon” building to receive their Passover gift-packages.
You could feel the excitement in the air from the people who were coming, the place was really busy and crowded. They were all extremely happy and blessed to receive these gift-packages.

By the end of the day, Sebastien had dropped off the 526 other parcels in Kiryat Gat and Sderot, and in both places, people were very grateful and blessed by it, whether it was officials or needy people.
On a side note, Luke and Sebastien got to shake the hand of the vice-mayor of Sderot for the second time, and there is a real partnership between the Helping Hand Coalition and the officials of Sderot. The HHC also received a letter of thanks from the head of the Ashdod organization “Amutat Zicharon”.

It was a very blessed day, draining and stressful in terms of work, but very fulfilling in terms of fruits and of the blessing that came out of it for many people.

The following week-end, it was with great joy and sense of accomplishment that the different staff members from the HHC celebrated the Jewish Passover at the Gasiorowski’s house.

Yesterday Sebastien visited a very needy jewish lady from the Tel Aviv area and got to give one regular food parcel, and one Passover parcel, and pray a blessing over her life.

Tomorrow, Sebastien will be dropping off in Ashdod the last remaining bags from the Passover order.


As mentioned before, 1,020 special Passover gift-packages were delivered to Holocaust survivors and others in need to the southern cities of Israel (Ashdod, Kiryat Gat, Sderot). Each gift-package contained: A box of matza, a bottle of wine, chocolate, perfume (brand new from its original packaging) and a special holiday-greeting card from the HHC.




For more photos of Ashdod, CLICK HERE










For more photos of Kiryat Gat, CLICK HERE










For more photos of Sderot, CLICK HERE

BARKAN Wine Purchase

By Luke Gasiorowski

A special purchase of over 2,000 bottles of wine was made directly from the BARKAN wine factory in central Israel. BARKAN is known to be one of the finest wine companies in Israel. The wine bottles were included in the special Passover gift-packages that were given out to different cities in Israel mainly to the Holocaust survivors as well as others in need.

For more photos of this event, CLICK HERE

Dutch Team in Jerusalem Filming for a Television Broadcast in Holland

By Luke Gasiorowski

A team from Holland arrived to Israel in order to shoot footage for an article regarding the difficult situation of the Holocaust survivors in Israel. The article will be broadcasting on one of the Dutch national television stations.

The crew filmed a number of Holocaust survivors who explained on tape their difficult past during the Holocaust and the difficulties that they live in today, in Israel. The crew followed a Holocaust survivor to one of the soup kitchens that he goes to on a regular basis in order to get food because of financial troubles. The crew also joined and filmed an event that the HHC organized at a restaurant in Jerusalem for a Sabbath-lunch with 8 Holocaust survivors in need. The survivors had plenty of food and drink and were very happy to be a part of the lunch. They were very blessed and each of them gave a speech of gratitude towards the end of the lunch. All this was filmed and will be broadcasting on Dutch television.

At the end of the lunch, each Holocaust survivor received a food parcel.

For more photos of this event, CLICK HERE

Visits to Holocaust Survivor Homes in Ashdod

By Sebastian Petrone

Today, Sebastien visited 6 people, and most of the people he visited had pretty good Hebrew, which made communication better, and set the platform for interesting conversations.

All the cases were in real need of a visit and human interaction, and most of them were really blessed with the food parcels. Actually, the first person Sebastien visited was Riva Hayut, from Ukraine, 2 years in the ghetto, really sick (diabetes, heart problem), and her home aid was also present, and she was sharing with me her financial troubles and desire to get food aid like her employer received. So Sebastien got to also give her one food parcel, and she was really blessed by it.

Sebastien instantly connected with the second person he visited, Yosef Sigel, very bright, interesting character, who served me cake, drinks and was really proud to share a bit of his life with him. He’s from Ukraine, Odessa, was 4 years in the ghetto, spent half a year in the work camps in Germany, his wife was really sick, and in bed. He seemed in pretty good health condition, and they had a real binding time. Sebastien got to take pictures of his ID from the ghetto.

Another happy gentle looking sir was Sergei Vitkun, who couldn’t speak any Hebrew, but was really happy for the food and the visit. Sebastien pulled in his neighbors, and they got to converse a bit, he spent 4 years in the ghetto in Eastern Europe. His neighbors were really impressed by the HHC work that gets done toward all of the lonely survivors, and gave Sebastien an address of someone in need to visit up north. They were all really grateful people and sympathetic too.

The other really interesting character was Maria Prolova, who served in the army during WWII, she showed Sebastien her 2 medals of honor, and pictures from this whole era. She got detained in Germany in a work camp for 5 years, and the Americans are the ones who set her free from the Germans. She’s 82, and we were conversing in German.

Links:
For more photos of the event, CLICK HERE

Nazareth Visits to Homes of People in Need

By Sebastian Petrone

HHC representatives (Luke, Rita and Sebastien) drove up to Nazareth and visited 6 extremely needy families to whom they brought special food parcels with meat, cookies, eggs, Matzah, chocolates and few more items. Word cannot be stressed out regarding to how special those encounters were and how desperate some of the cases they saw were.

1. Isabella

She has 7 children from baby to age 20, and definitely needs social and probably psychological help. Her husband is in prison, they live in the worst living conditions possible : the kids sleep on the floor, they have hardly any furniture, no hot water, heater broken and no money to fix it, some of the kids are really sick, the youngest having water in the brain, half the family suffers from epilepsy.
She is in Israel since 1997, is a part of a social project called Amidor, of which she gets 250 shekels a month. She gets from the social insurance 3000 nis/month, 1260 nis go to paying expenses, the rest goes to paying off debts, they have no money for food, need renovation, a washing machine, food parcels…

2. Ozalia

She and her husband live in a small apartment with 8 people. She’s 56 and had a serious car accident and cannot work. The husband makes 3500 nis per month.
One of the daughter is injured and has a 75 % handicap, she shouldn’t work, yet she does and makes 2600 nis/month, this including social aid for her kid, the pay and social security.
The other daughter is taking care of an infant baby, and has no money for kindergarten.
They have a 19-year-old son who is currently serving in the army, his wife and kid live with the family.
All the furniture they have in the house were found outside on the street.
They were so grateful for the meat we brought.

3. Sonya

She is 67 years old, is from Kazakhstan, was born in the ghetto (Vinieza), but was to young to be considered as a holocaust survivor by the Israeli government. She’s been 16 years in Israel.
Her husband is 75 % invalid, in critical condition. She has 3 grown children who can’t help her financially
She gets altogether 3300 nis/month, and after expenses, she has hardly any money left for food, 500 nis.

4. Jenya and Sacha

A very special family whose situation really touched us. They are a young couple, 32 and 36 years old with 2 daughters, one is 13, the other is 6. Both parents are considered as invalid, he 51 %, she 60 %, hence unable to work. Despite his health condition, he’s tried to get a job, but nobody will hire him.
They are from Ukraine, and have been 11 years in Israel.
She gets social security for 2500 nis/month, he gets nothing for he’d have to be 70 % invalid to receive social aid.
They pay 1050 nis for rent, and have 300-400 nis left for food after expenses. They have no money for transportation.

5. Rosalie

Another touching story. She is from Moldova, has been 17 years in Israel. Has 3 kids, one is 29 and lives on his own, one is 20, and one is 13. She was a music teacher.
She is considered a 100 % invalid, has a massive growth/tumor, and has to drink 30 litres of water per day.
She can’t sleep at night, has trouble walking, and feels desperately lonely. The kids have Asthma.
After expenses, they have hardly any money left for food.

6. Ira

She met her Jewish husband in Ukraine, got married before he made his alyah to Israel. The husband brought his parents, wife and kids with, after not even 3 years in Israel, he died.
Since her husband’s death, the Israeli governement wants to kick her out of the country because she’s not jewish and her son wasn’t born in Israel.
She’s been fighting in court for almost the past four years, and has her last court appearance is in October, and her should be settled by then.
Her son is 10 and is denied health insurance, she takes care of her in-laws who are deaf and invalid. She has needs for food, and after school program for her son.


It was a very special day, rich in interaction with the people the HHC representatives visited, and they feel that the HHC has a real responsibility toward them to help them and support them in their various hardships and trials. The HHC representatives left Nazareth with a real sense of accomplishment and an awareness of the needs standing ahead of them for these special families.

Links:
For more photos of the event, CLICK HERE

Renovations Needed at Homes of Holocaust Survivors

By Sebastian Petrone

On Sunday, Eitan (a resident of Ashdod) joined an HHC representative (Sebastien) in the morning. Together they drove to Kiryat Gat where they met up with the city vice-mayor and together they visited 6 different households from Holocaust survivors and war ghetto residents in order to estimate, take pictures and collect intelligence in regards of home renovations, repairs and fixing needed in those places. Most of the work to be done is related to wall damage, water damage, painting. Some of the living conditions were really precarious and heartbreaking. The people were so grateful for the visit and are really turning to the HHC for helping them in those practical ways. The following Holocaust survivors need renovations in their homes:

1. Frida is an old single lady. She came from the ghetto in eastern Europe.

2. Anatoli comes from Moscow. He is a war veteran and has been in Israel for 12 years. He is sick and thankfully still has his wife with him.

3. Ben is from the Kafkhaz (Kavkaz). He was in the civil war over there and has been 10 years in Israel.

4. Faina lives with her husband in Kiryat Gat. They have been 15 years in Israel. They are both really old and live in poor conditions. They were in Siberia and Faina's husband has a serious heart condition.

5. Sheiba is divorced with 2 kids. She has a lot of financial problems. She’s been in Israel 18 years and also needs a lot of fixing and repairs but has no money and is very distressed. She couldn’t hold tears while recounting her life story and troubles.

6. Finally Galina, is in definite need for help. Her son is autistic, doesn’t speak, hardly sees and very sick. He’s 6 and a half years old. She also is really sick and has psychological problems. She can’t be home alone. Thanks to one of our sponsors we will be able to help them with a pair of glasses as soon as she sends us her doctor's prescription. Her apartment walls are in absolute horrible condition, and need fixing and repair.

Links:
For more photos of the event, CLICK HERE

Food Distribution to Sudanese Refugee Families in Tel Aviv

By Luke Gasiorowski

A food purchase was made by the HHC and then distributed to 48 Sudanese refugee families living in Tel Aviv. The food was distributed through Pastor Jeremiah Dairo of the LIFT YOUR HEAD UP HIGH Church in Tel Aviv to the 48 families who need it the most. This is done on a weekly basis and has been going on since the Autumn of 2007.

The church that the HHC distributes the food through (LIFT YOUR HEAD UP HIGH Church), Pastored by Jeremiah Dairo has over 300 members. The majority of these are refugees from Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast and other African countries. Almost all of them live in difficult financial conditions.

Links:
For more photos of the event, CLICK HERE

Weekly Report

by Sebastian Petrone

This past week has been incredibly fruitful…

On Tuesday 04/1st, Sebastien (an HHC representative) went to the city of Azur to pick up food parcels for distribution. Once back in Ashdod, he prepared the sacks with 11 different elimentary products in each sack.

On Wednesday, 6 different individuals received a visit and food parcels. Every time, the human interaction was really good, in several cases, the simple fact to sit with them and listen to them, and ask them questions about their lives and difficulties, would bring tears to their faces, joy and relief from feelings of loneliness and abandonment.

The first person Sebastien visited, Dora, was really sick. Sebastien was really happy to see that she had a person that was helping her in her daily activities. Then in the same building, Sebastien got to also visit Sarah Semelman, who was a paramedic in the resistance movement during WWII, she spent two years in the ghetto, and also received a medal of honor… She was really proud to show me that her testimony was recorded in a book written in memory of the war.

Sebastien also got to visit that same day a couple other veterans, who served 5 years during WWII, both have really serious respiratory troubles and carry many wounds on their body from their service into the war.

In the late afternoon, Sebastien got together with a congregational leader from Ashdod, Eitan, and he really wants to help us, be a part of all the things that are happening through the action of the HHC. The meeting went really well. The HHC together with Eitan is also planning a trip to Sderot in the near future, to bring 40 parcels of food to holocaust survivors and needy people, after request from a contact over there.