Rachel + a cohort of friends are working to raise money for EMDR treatments, tourniquets, critical medical supplies + other immediate needs. Your money will go directly to supporting these grassroots efforts in Israel.
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Thank you to everyone who donated to the campaign. We are truly so grateful for your support.
You can continue to follow Rachel's story at
https://rel-war-journal.blogspot.com/
My name is Jake. Two years ago, my sister Rachel (initials REL) and her family (husband and triplets) moved to Modi'in, Israel. Today, like every other Israeli she knows, she is involved in the tremendous grassroots efforts that people have taken upon themselves to help get food and supplies to IDF Soldiers, their families, and those affected by the devastating war in Israel.
“Regular” citizens like my sister are making hundreds of sandwiches in their backyards, baking cookies, and buying toiletries and personal items for soldiers – all with money out of their own pockets.
Also, there are families who walked out their doors with just the clothing on their backs and they, too, need food, clothing and other support.
I speak with my sister daily and after today's call, I could not sit back any longer.
Funds contributed to various NGOs, Synagogues and other charities will greatly help support Israeli efforts in the months to come, but governmental and organizational bureaucracy make it difficult for them to have an impact TODAY.
Here are some numbers my sister provided:
Grilling for IDF spent $20K for meat and other food to feed 3700 soldiers JUST TODAY! While Grilling for IDF has their own non-profit (to which you can donate here), there are countless citizens (including my sister) baking for them and helping to obtain additional items
A woman whose brother is a mental health officer working with soldiers to help avoid PTSD reported that they needed portable showers immediately down at the border – they’ve been transporting dead bodies all day without showers. Rachel spent hours today with this special woman, Avital, sourcing these showers, paying for them ($1000+), and getting them transported down to the soldiers who need them.
She and her new “team” also spent ~$1000 on special vests that were needed immediately for an elite unit heading into a mission, $300 on toiletries that were requested, ~$4200 on 250 units of a digital item for classified purposes, and 160 bottles of an essential oil used for masking smells for the unit that’s in charge of collecting bodies.
This is all JUST from yesterday (10/11/23).
Funds that you contribute are not to reimburse Rachel for any of the above expenses or any funds used prior; they are going to be used to help procure additional food and supplies TODAY and in the weeks to come!
As so many people have reached out, Rachel began a public journal which can be viewed here.
Please don't hesitate to reach out to me for any additional information.
Thank You!
Important! The objective of this campaign is SPEED. As such:
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Thank you to everyone who donated to the campaign. We are truly so grateful for your support.
You can continue to follow Rachel's story at
https://rel-war-journal.blogspot.com/
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We did it! Thanks to your support - and the addition of some donations that came in directly in NIS/shekels - we were able to fund and deliver 15 of the EMDR machines this week!
Someone in the community donated 225 AAA batteries to ensure that our frontline therapists have the power to last for a couple of weeks.
As a reminder, these devices provide a critical therapeutic intervention called EMDR, which helps to minimize the long-term psychological damage and potential for PTSD for people doing this important yet traumatic work.
Thank you. Thank you.
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There is a need for more of the EMDR devices, so we're continuing to raise money! If you'd be willing to share this Fundly campaign with a friend, we'd be deeply grateful.
Your support means so much.
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For the past 3 weeks, we have been in close contact with many people/units/volunteers who have been tasked with the unbearable job of collecting and identifying the bodies of those who were massacred during the October 7th attack. These people have been through hell.
We have done everything we possibly can in order to ease their discomfort, even by a little, by providing Copaiba oil for the smells and field showers for them to be able to have some relief.
Now, we have the opportunity to help even further: We currently have 15 therapists ready and willing to provide a critical therapeutic intervention called EMDR, which helps to minimize the long-term psychological damage and potential for PTSD for people doing this important yet traumatic work.
However, we need to purchase these battery-operated machines, each of which costs $250 (all in).
Our goal is to raise $3,750 in the next few days to make this purchase possible.
Please consider helping us achieve this by sponsoring a machine ($250) or any amount you can towards this goal, and sharing this campaign with your network of family and friends.
There are truly no words to adequately thank you for your support.
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Catching you all up on some other recent purchases!
As I shared in my War Journal, equipping our soldiers who are processing bodies from the initial attacks with essential oils to help mask the smells is critical. (Original post here about the complexities of finding the right oil: https://rel-war-journal.blogspot.com/2023/10/day-5-wednesday.html)
We have contributed funds to support the purchase of more than 700 bottles of copaiba oil (along with generous donations from JD Schloss Traditional Aromatherapy and the personal stock of women who sell Doterra here in Israel). As the work to identify bodies and give them a proper burial continues, there is still a need for more of these individual bottles (which last roughly 2-4 days per soldier).
Our hope is that we will never again need copaiba oil after this war. But in the meantime, we are doing our best to provide as much as possible so that everyone who needs it will receive it.
Thank you all for your help and support
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"This is so amazing! This is so amazing and helpful!" --a grateful voice message from one of the families who received this shelving unit.
Last week, we funded the purchase of 70 shelving units - aka the only closets they have - so that 70 families from Shuva who were evacuated with nothing from their homes have this one place to organize the items that have been donated to their families.
This is a very unsettling, disorganized time for these 70 families who are now staying in a kibbutz near the Dead Sea, setting up an educational system for their children, and figuring out how to move forward in this place where they've been told to expect a stay of at least 3 months.
Thank you for making it possible for us to help families like the 70 from Shuva with something as simple and tremendously impactful as closets.
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Your support has been tremendous - thank you! We received pictures and videos from a medical unit that received essential supplies from us that they didn't have -- including pulse oximeters, compressed gauze, soaps for handwashing and more. We're still trying to source some of the other critical supplies they need... stay tuned! And thanks again!!
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Today, your donations went to support FEED A FAMILY! Since the start of the war, Modiin (where Rachel lives) and the surrounding area have welcomed hundreds of families from the south of Israel. They face immense challenges right now - and Feed a Family is making sure that putting food on the table isn’t one of them. They put out a call today saying that they were struggling to meet the demand, and we were honored to be able to help, thanks to you and your generosity!
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The Go Pros we helped fund yesterday have been delivered to the unit! We received a message from the person who delivered that the Officer of the unit was so moved by the tremendous support. So THANKS TO YOU for helping to make this important purchase possible. We pray that these soldiers remain safe on their mission.
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The past few days have been filled with mixed emotions, as Rachel and friends work tirelessly to source and deliver the tourniquets. They've continued to speak with various suppliers, officials, and contacts in the IDF to understand the various players and requirements in place, and connect various leaders and organizations with one another. Their hope is that 20,000 units will be shipped shortly. Yesterday they sent more food to Breads and Spreads which supports three different organizations distributing food around the country.
They expect more showers coming from the US within the next 5 days, and they've helped secure hundreds of bottles of essential oils to mask the smell for troops processing dead bodies in the South.
With each of these efforts, they're using funds from YOU/THIS campaign, and are partnering with other similar grassroots fundraisers, bringing resources together to make a greater impact.
Today they received requests for boots from soldiers wearing tennis shoes, and go pros for a special mission, though few details were available at the time of request
THANK YOU!
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UPDATE ON TOURNIQUETS:
Thank you for your tremendous support!
The supply of 800 tourniquets that we were hoping to purchase this morning was denied by official channels... They turned out to be a different kind than soldiers have been trained on and the military doesn't want to cause more confusion than harm in the fields.
We are working to secure tourniquets from other sources, including in the US, and it may take a few more days to procure the goods.
In the meantime, we are supporting other supplies that have been requested by units down south, and we will share more on those specifics shortly.
Thank you again.
(Pictured: Decathlon portable showers that we purchased earlier this week - qty:39)
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Wow! Thank you to everyone for the incredible support.
Today Rachel and her family grilled meat for 60 soldiers (carbs and vegetables provided by less-carnivorous supporters). If you've ever purchased kosher meat, you know this is not cheap! She and a cohort of friends are also working to raise $25K for 800 tourniquettes needed on the front lines.
Thank you to everyone who is doing something!
Also - my sincere apologies for not directing donors to where to adjust (or remove) the contribution to Fundly. While I'm grateful for the platform (GFM would not launch this campaign), it could have been more clear how to bypass the fees.
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