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אלפי זוגות משקפיים חולקו במתנה לניצולי שואה מבוגרים ברחבי הארץ על ידי פעילי ומתנדבי’ יד לעזרה ישראל’ * בין המקבלים: ניצולים תושבי מבשרת ציון והסביבה

Full Article: http://www.zmz.co.il/articles/nadlan/11367/

Thousands of glasses were distributed as gifts to adult survivors of the Holocaust across the country by Helping Hand Coalition Israel activists and volunteers * Among recipients: survivors from Mevaseret Zion and the surrounding area

“There is nothing like the joy and happiness of an elderly survivor who suddenly regains his vision after years of not having the money or ability to purchase a pair of glasses. This experience shakes up every time,” says Luke Gasiorowski, director of Helping Hand Coalition Israel. Thousands of reading glasses were distributed, free of charge, to thousands of survivors. The campaign, which lasted about a month, focused on dedicated and migratory clinics in the north of the country with the help of optometrists and volunteers who worked together to help older survivors of the Holocaust improve their vision and adjust their glasses. Most of the activity focused on local authorities in the north of the country, from where it continued to the other regions, including Mevaseret Zion and the surrounding area.

These days, the association is preparing to distribute thousands of food baskets and basic necessities that will be distributed during the month to survivors of the Holocaust and help them celebrate New Year and Sukkot in a respectable way. About 170,000 survivors of the Holocaust now live in Israel and about a quarter live below the poverty line. “Helping Hand Coalition Israel helps especially this population, most of which come from Eastern European countries, to improve their quality of life and welfare as much as possible and to assist them with their basic needs as well as their full rights,” emphasizes Luke Gasiorowski, who finds that today, 74 years after the war ended the average age of survivors is 83 years. The Helping Hand Coalition Israel is an organization that works to help survivors of the Holocaust across the country through a variety of actions and measures, including importing containers with free clothing details distributed to Holocaust survivors, distributing food for the use of survivors of the Holocaust, documenting the memories of survivors, calling for medical help, initiating bar mitzvah celebrations for survivors who did not celebrate it as a child, assisting and participating in the parade of life, assistance project for individual soldiers in the northern area and dozens of other projects.

Helping Hand Coalition Israel operated under the media radar for many years from the Shalom House project – a beautiful villa in Caesarea, dedicated to the welfare and residence of survivors of the Holocaust only. The impressive villa serves as a meeting place for dozens of classes, lectures, workshops, classes and study sessions, art shows, music and culture throughout the year to tens of thousands of survivors living throughout Israel. The organization’s co-founder, Andre Gasiorowski, and his day-to-day management is his son, Luke Gasiorowski, along with a dedicated and dedicated staff working in Caesarea and throughout the country on a variety of projects aim to help survivors of the Holocaust living in Israel.

Helping Hand Coalition Israel is an example and exemplary of humble and important social activity, which works in collaboration with many government ministries and aid agencies and aims to help, especially in humanitarian cases, survivors of the Holocaust living with us and our loved ones. The association has recently decided to expose its activities with the aim of allowing more survivors living across the country to enjoy its diverse service and to improve the quality of life of survivors of the Holocaust at their old age, both in their residential areas and in visits to the association’s home in Caesarea.

For details on the association’s activities throughout the country and villa in Caesarea, phone: 04-6897030.

Written by: Yitzhak Rabiah