Yad Sarah, an extraordinary Israeli volunteer
organization, saves the Israeli economy $220 million
yearly -- and many of its citizens rivers of tears --
by lending out medical equipment, driving the disabled,
providing geriatric dentistry, advising about home care
equipment, supplying legal aid, meals on wheels and
much more. All these services are free or at a nominal
fee for everyone in (temporary) need.
In the middle of March, Yad Sarah started using a
bulletproof van to transport wheelchair-bound people in
dangerous areas. The special car, which can accommodate
about 4 wheelchairs, was a NIS 650,000 ($150,000)
donation from the Swiss friends of Yad Sarah. A
similar van, donated in memory of Raphael de
Rothschild, started delivering essential medical
equipment to those dangerous areas about one month ago.
Last year Yad Sarah's fleet of 22 special vans
transported 120,000 disabled persons throughout Israel.
On February 12th the Israeli Knesset paid tribute to
Yad Sarah, an Israeli volunteer organization active for
25 years.
"Everyone, at some point, will be challenged by
physical difficulties," said Rabbi Uri Lupolianski, Yad
Sarah's founder and director who is also a deputy mayor
of Jerusalem from the Degel Hatorah faction of United
Torah Judaism. "At Yad Sarah we turn away from egoism
and focus on the other person, the person who needs
help. Many people connected in such a way will create a
spiritually healthier world."
Yad Sarah, using a unique concept in the world
developed by Rabbi Lupolianski, has 6000 volunteers in
90 branches in Israel, while others, including eastern
Europe, have adopted its exceptional structure in over
a hundred similar offshoots. Because Yad Sarah operates
on a very small budget, its concept is usable and
useful in poor countries.
As Jerusalem's mayor Ehud Olmert stated: "Yad Sarah
unites all segments of Israel's divided society in a
wonderful mosaic. Gaps between the secular and
religious, Arabs, Jews, Druse and Christians,
disappear."
Here is some information about Yad Sarah's latest
activities:
Dental House Calls
Old people worldwide have terrible oral health,
according to a recent global survey. Poorly fitting
dentures, inadequate oral hygiene and inflamed gums
head the list of acute problems. Yad Sarah's Geriatric
Dental Clinic meets this challenge in Jerusalem, but
many elderly and extremely infirm people are not able
to come there. Now the clinic will go to them. A mobile
dental care unit is bringing volunteer dentists to the
home where, using mobile equipment, they examine,
instruct and treat the various geriatric populations
according to their individual needs. The Jerusalem unit
is serving as a pilot program and model for a possible
future country-wide service.
Lifelink Bracelets
Lifelink is Yad Sarah's new lifesaving outdoor
bracelet. Subscribers to the Yad Sarah Emergency
Response Service, who up to know could call for instant
help from home, can now be helped when they leave home,
too. On the bracelet are the phone number of the
Emergency Response Center, and the wearer's Lifelink ID
number. Should the wearer have any medical emergency
while away from home, anyone coming to his or her aid
can call Yad Sarah any hour of the day or night, give
the Lifelink ID number and find out who the person is
as well as receive immediate vital medical information.
The family doctor and family member(s) can be alerted,
and so on. The duty operator at Yad Sarah can meanwhile
contact relatives -- they can be waiting at the
emergency room when the patient gets there. The
bracelets are now being offered to the public at a
nominal price.
Exhibition Demo Disc
All the equipment and ideas displayed in Yad Sarah's
Guidance, Exhibition and Resource Centers for daily
living aids are now demonstrated in a new presentation
available to the public as a CD or through the Yad
Sarah website. The demo disk contains four tracks:
morning routines, dressing, personal hygiene and
leisure. Suitable for professionals and lay people, it
serves as a virtual visit to the Center with its
multitude of useful and original solutions to daily
living challenges of people who are disabled or feeble
and wish to live independently at home.
