Seven senior executives of the Baltimore Jewish community organization CHAI, who visited Israel this week, were lavish in their praise for the activities of Yad Sarah, Israel's largest volunteer organization.
In a conducted tour of Yad Sarah's central facility in Jerusalem, the visitors expressed astonishment at the scale of the aid provided to the sick and the elderly, the bewildering variety of the services, equipment and solutions available, and Yad Sarah's unsurpassed success in recruiting volunteers.
Yad Sarah is Israel's largest volunteer organization, helping approximately half a million people each year, Jews and non-Jews. It has over 100 branches throughout the country, within reach of virtually everyone. Over 6,000 volunteers, ranging from ambulance drivers, artisans and cooks to highly trained medical specialists, give their time to the patients. Every second family in Israel has been helped by Yad Sarah.
With an annual budget of 100 million shekels, of which 97 percent is funded by donations from the public, Yad Sarah saves the government over 400 million dollars annually in hospitalization costs.
Yad Sarah is the first Israeli Jewish organizations to be recognized by the United Nations as a consulting organization to the UN Economic and Social Council, and as Yad Sarah's Orly Dreman told the Baltimore guests: "The UN does not usually honor Israeli organizations."
CHAI executive Joann Levy said she was surprised to see at Yad Sarah that "Israel is a country that embraces volunteering as part of its culture. That is not something we do well in the United States. In this country volunteering is almost like breathing."
Arieh Goetz, who is in charge of neighborhood investment and services to the elderly provided by CHAI in Baltimore, said he was very impressed by the respect for the elderly which he had seen at Yad Sarah.
"In the United States people tend to be more stand-offish," he said. "You get old and you're no longer part of the active society. Here at Yad Sarah we saw more care and compassion. But we also do a lot of work with the elderly, and that ties CHAI to Yad Sarah."
Molly Amster is the director of voluntary services at CHAI, with over 800 volunteers every year, helping the poor and the elderly in Baltimore to repair their homes, making them more energy-efficient, so that they can save money on their utility bills.
Nevertheless, she was amazed at how Yad Sarah utilizes volunteers. "It's astounding, the number, the scale, the range of activities the volunteers are performing and the services they are providing. A lot of it is about reciprocity - motivating people who have received services to put something back into the community. Yad Sarah does this very well, so maybe we could follow its lead."
Ellen Jarett, who works with Continuing Care Retirement Communities said she admires that way in which Yad Sarah protects the patient from bureaurocracy and unnecessary trouble.
"In Maryland you can't find one organization where a person coming out of hospital can get everything he needs in one place," she said. "I think it's an amazing model, and if we could have it even in Baltimore, it would be a big step forward."#_lt#div style="text-align#_sc# left;" dir="ltr"#_gt##_lt#span style="font-size#_sc# medium;"#_gt#
#_lt#p#_gt##_lt#span style="color#_sc# #0000ff;"#_gt##_lt#strong#_gt#Seven senior executives of the Baltimore Jewish community organization CHAI, who visited Israel this week, were lavish in their praise for the activities of Yad Sarah, Israel's largest volunteer organization.#_lt#/strong#_gt##_lt#/span#_gt##_lt#/p#_gt#
#_lt#p#_gt# In a conducted tour of Yad Sarah's central facility in Jerusalem, the visitors expressed astonishment at the scale of the aid provided to the sick and the elderly, the bewildering variety of the services, equipment and solutions available, and Yad Sarah's unsurpassed success in recruiting volunteers.#_lt#/p#_gt#
#_lt#p#_gt# Yad Sarah is Israel's largest volunteer organization, helping approximately half a million people each year, Jews and non-Jews. It has over 100 branches throughout the country, within reach of virtually everyone. Over 6,000 volunteers, ranging from ambulance drivers, artisans and cooks to highly trained medical specialists, give their time to the patients. Every second family in Israel has been helped by Yad Sarah.#_lt#/p#_gt#
#_lt#p#_gt# With an annual budget of 100 million shekels, of which 97 percent is funded by donations from the public, Yad Sarah saves the government over 400 million dollars annually in hospitalization costs.#_lt#/p#_gt#
#_lt#p#_gt#Yad Sarah is the first Israeli Jewish organizations to be recognized by the United Nations as a consulting organization to the UN Economic and Social Council, and as Yad Sarah's Orly Dreman told the Baltimore guests#_sc# "The UN does not usually honor Israeli organizations."#_lt#/p#_gt#
#_lt#p#_gt# CHAI executive Joann Levy said she was surprised to see at Yad Sarah that "Israel is a country that embraces volunteering as part of its culture. That is not something we do well in the United States. In this country volunteering is almost like breathing."#_lt#/p#_gt#
#_lt#p#_gt# #_lt#span style="background-color#_sc# #ccffff;"#_gt#Arieh Goetz#_lt#/span#_gt#, who is in charge of neighborhood investment and services to the elderly provided by CHAI in Baltimore, said he was very impressed by the respect for the elderly which he had seen at Yad Sarah.#_lt#/p#_gt#
#_lt#p#_gt#"In the United States people tend to be more stand-offish," he said. "You get old and you're no longer part of the active society. Here at Yad Sarah we saw more care and compassion. But we also do a lot of work with the elderly, and that ties CHAI to Yad Sarah."#_lt#/p#_gt#
#_lt#p#_gt##_lt#span style="background-color#_sc# #ccffff;"#_gt#Molly Amster#_lt#/span#_gt# is the director of voluntary services at CHAI, with over 800 volunteers every year, helping the poor and the elderly in Baltimore to repair their homes, making them more energy-efficient, so that they can save money on their utility bills.#_lt#/p#_gt#
#_lt#p#_gt#Nevertheless, she was amazed at how Yad Sarah utilizes volunteers. "It's astounding, the number, the scale, the range of activities the volunteers are performing and the services they are providing. A lot of it is about reciprocity - motivating people who have received services to put something back into the community. Yad Sarah does this very well, so maybe we could follow its lead."#_lt#/p#_gt#
#_lt#p#_gt# #_lt#span style="background-color#_sc# #ccffff;"#_gt#Ellen Jarett,#_lt#/span#_gt# who works with Continuing Care Retirement Communities said she admires that way in which Yad Sarah protects the patient from bureaurocracy and unnecessary trouble.#_lt#/p#_gt#
#_lt#p#_gt#"In Maryland you can't find one organization where a person coming out of hospital can get everything he needs in one place," she said. "I think it's an amazing model, and if we could have it even in Baltimore, it would be a big step forward." #_lt#/p#_gt#
#_lt#/span#_gt# #_lt#/div#_gt# |