Life Giving from page 58

Guest Column

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Popular Support
MDA provides 97 percent of all civil-
ian blood and all blood to the Israel
Defense Forces. Up to four lifesaving
components can be derived from
whole blood: red cells, white cells,
platelets and plasma. So via blood
component therapy, more than one
person potentially benefits from each
pint of donated whole blood.
The Israeli government mandated
MDA in 1950. But MDA is not a
government agency or government-
funded. MDA relies on service fees
and donations to fund a $200-million
U-M student Benjamin Cher served
annual operating budget and ensure
as a certified MDA medic this spring.
paramedics and other responders are
He spent eight hours a day on an
properly trained and fully equipped
ambulance while based in Jerusalem.
and supplied.
Donors worldwide fund 30 percent
War's Impact
of the budget. They also fund capital
expansions, renovations, equipment
Israel's Operation Protective Edge this
purchases and new ambulances, which
summer to staunch Hamas' continual,
range from $100,000 for a life support
sustained rocket attacks put MDA to its
unit to $125,000 for a mobile intensive
toughest test yet.
care unit. Over the next year, MDA is
"I don't think since the Yom Kippur
seeking 100 new life support units to
War we felt such a threat to the existence
replace older models and to expand the
of the country:' said Dr. Eilat Shinar,
fleet.
MDA Blood Services Division director,
Volunteers of all backgrounds furnish
at the Sept. 11 dinner.
invaluable support to MDA. Benjamin
During this summer's war, MDA sent
Cher, 19, of Huntington Woods repre-
60,000 blood units to Israeli hospitals
sented the Mames Chapter as a MDA
and the IDF. The MDA moved out of its
student volunteer for six weeks this
cramped below-grade shelter on Sept. 7,
spring.
after 50 arduous days. The move was a
At the chapter's annual dinner on
dark reminder for Israel and the Jewish
Sept. 11 at Congregation Beth Ahm in
diaspora that the MDA can't continue to
West Bloomfield, Cher described his
rush to the shelter every time a terror-
experience as a certified MDA medic,
ist group feels the urge to try to destroy
a title earned after 10 days of intensive
Israel. Expanded, underground quarters
training. Aspiring to a career in medi-
would enable the MDA National Blood
Center to operate all day, every day,
cine, he talked about how uplifting it
without terrorist intervention.
was to treat strangers under physical
In closing, Shinar, an Israeli native
duress.
and a hematologist who cut her medi-
"I am incredibly thankful I was able
cal spurs at Hadassah Medical Center in
to volunteer for MDA," the University of
Michigan sophomore told the 350 dinner Jerusalem, said: "I want to convey the
guests. "It changed me and I know that I
thanks of every patient in Israel who
made a difference in my home — Eretz
gets an ambulance ride or treatment in
Yisrael [the biblical Land of Israel[:'
the street or a blood transfusion in the
The MDA cause is certainly noble.
hospital:'
A new MDA National Blood Center
Changing Times
remains a dream. But there's urgency to
The main MDA facility in Ramat Gan
bringing the center to fruition. Quite lit-
opened in 1987 to turn out 175,000 units erally, every Israeli's wellbeing is at stake.
of blood to serve 4.4 million people.
That's a compelling thought this Rosh
Russian immigration soon inflated the
Hashanah, the Jewish New Year — a
population by 1 million and stretched
time to take account, reboot and resolve
medical resources, including the blood
to improve our lot as a people in addi-
supply.
tion to the lots of others. ❑
Today's population tops 8 million,
pushing blood needs to nearly 400,000
To donate to American Friends
units — more than twice the number
of Magen David Adom, the U.S.
when the MDA National Blood Center
fundraising arm of MDA, call
was built. By 2030, Israel's population
Cari Immerman, ARMDI regional
is expected to exceed 10 million, which
will require more than a half-million
director, at 1-877-405-3913.
units of blood.

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A Flood Of Gratitude

n Aug.11 at 6:30 p.m., I
walked downstairs to my
basement and saw inches of
brownish water everywhere. I went
into the bathroom and saw an arc
of water emerging from the toilet.
At that moment, I knew that I had
problems at my home in Huntington
Woods. I didn't realize the magnitude
of the problems I would be helping to
navigate at work.
For the next week, the streets in
my neighborhood were lined with
disaster-response vehicles; ease-
ments were loaded with the remnants
of people's lives, stored for decades
in basements. The rest of the commu-
nity was looking at images
of 12-foot-high waters
on freeways, learning of
people stranded on their
cars and learning about a
few tragic deaths, includ-
ing one within the Jewish
community.
At Jewish Family
Service (JFS), we began
to grasp the large chal-
lenge facing our commu-
nity. Within a few days,
it became clear that the
financial cost of this event would
overwhelm hundreds in our commu-
nity. Email messages started flying,
people started meeting and a plan
started to take shape.

eaching Out

JFS does a lot of things for a lot of
people. If I had to distill it to one
phrase, I'd say JFS provides a safety
net for the community. In a normal
year, this takes all kinds of forms, but
it usually means helping community
members experiencing a crisis or life
transition, one person or family at a
time.
For the last couple of years, JFS
has spent between $500,000 and
$600,000 annually for emergency
financial assistance. We invest in
people to help them make ends
meet, writing checks to landlords
and utilities companies, distributing
food vouchers and more. While we
help thousands of people every year,
a natural disaster of this magnitude
was something new.
Since the rainstorms, JFS has
fielded well over 500 calls. We have
assisted more than 325 qualifying
families with payments for basement
remediation, replacement of major
appliances and other necessities.

We have spent more than $500,000
in just over four weeks. We project
spending the same amount or more
in the coming weeks as the response
continues.

Staying Flexible

We changed our procedures sig-
nificantly to meet the sudden and
extraordinary need. For two weeks,
we staffed a mobile office at the
Jewish Center in Oak Park and Young
Israel of Oak Park. On the first full
day of this operation, we processed
125 families.
These numbers are all large and
impressive, but no number is more
important than the one
person in front of us at any
given time.
While we have been the
face of the relief efforts,
we haven't been alone. This
community is amazing.
The Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit has been
at the center of it, doing the
fundraising and organizing.
Our Hebrew Free Loan has
extended interest-free loans,
working with applicants to
remove barriers to assistance. The
Detroit Chesed Project has facilitated
communications and provided direct
relief and boots on the ground within
the Orthodox community. Nechama,
a national Jewish Disaster Relief
organization, arrived two days after
the flooding and has cleaned more
than 80 houses since. IsraAID flew in
a group from Israel to serve alongside
Nechama.

And funding! Our Federation,
the Jewish Women's Foundation
of Metropolitan Detroit, Jewish
Federations of North America and
countless other funds, foundations
and individuals came forward with
the financial fuel to mobilize this
response.
We all, of course, wish this never
happened. That said, I am so thankful
for the way the Detroit Jewish
community has responded. There's
more work to be done and we'll keep
working until it's finished.
Thank you one and all for helping
rebuild this now even stronger com-
munity. ❑

Perry Ohren is CEO of Jewish Family Service

of Metropolitan Detroit.

September 25 • 2014

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