Two weeks ago, we taken an unexpected turn in what we do. Three weeks ago, we were told of a senior citizen’s facility here in Sderot that due to budget cuts has lost a large portion of their funding, We were asked if we stop by to see if may be we could help.

 

What we found was, the bus service that once picked up the senior in the morning and took them home in the afternoon stopped, now each person was responsible for their own transportation to and from the club each day, at a cost of thirty shekels per person per day,the samecost of a whole chicken. The hot lunch they received each day had stopped as well.

Ninety present of the seventy seniors that call this place their “Club” are state recognized Holocaust survivors. With the bleak future of their “Club” many of the seniors went to other senior citizen’s facilities fearing they would have no place to go if their “Club” had to close.

There were 25-30 seniors left with no place to go, so they continued to come each day in spite of the services to them that had been cut and the added costs to them.

For these widows or widowers and like I said,Holocaust survivors, most use a walker, crutch or a cane to get around this “club” as they call it is the only thing in their lives that gets them up in the morning to get dressed and go out every day, it is also their source of two meals a day. Most days they go home with plate for food or a bag of donated vegetables for later on.

When the seniors left so did most of the paid staff, as the moved to the other facilities as well, all except four.
There are four staff members who refused to leave the “club” knowing if they did, the doors would be closed for good. The love of these four staff members for the seniors has caused them to work without pay in hopes that thing will work out and the “club” in the end will remain open.

When told them we would come back tomorrow with salads for them, similar to the ones we make for ENOSH. We quickly realized that this could not be a once a week thing and we couldn’t walk away without doing something.

We are all called to help and take care of the elderly, the widow and the widower, and that is what we have chosen to do for this season.
Needless to say, we have been bringing them a hot cooked lunch meal every day for the past two week,with enough for them to take some home for dinner and we will do our best to continue it until they get their financial issues resolved.

The menu changes each day and ranges from meatloaf with rice and mushrooms to schnitzel and mashed potatoes or baked chicken with brown rice. All meals come with two or three salads, some type of bread and juice to drink.
The hours of prep work, shopping and cooking are long but are a joy. In my past I was a Mess Sargent for a Division Headquarter so cooking for 30 is no big deal, besides cooking is one of my passions, thanks to my mother!

If you would like to help us feed these senior, we would love and appreciates any donation you would like to send us. To donate you can click here to get started. Please make a note on your donation that this is for the “club”. Thank you for your consideration and help.