DECEMBER 28 • 2023 | 35
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a volunteer with CF 
Israel, she’s been helping 
to make phone calls to 
find out who needs help 
and how they can assist.
“So many people are 
asking for treadmills 
from their CF 
organization and for 
portable nebulizers like 
inhalator machines,
” 
she explains. “I personally 
even tried to help one of the 
families that lived in the South 
— they evacuated from their 
house; they needed alternative 
housing. We have families 
that don’t have computers to 
communicate with doctors 
online, some of them don’t even 
have smartphones.
”

Beyond the physical 
challenges, the mental and 
emotional toll of the war is 
profound. Maizels and her 
family are living in what they 
call “survivor mode.
” They 
barely watch TV; they don’t 
open mail or videos sent to 
them online, and they’re afraid 
to even take a simple trip to 
the grocery store. Maizels says 
she often cries at night when 
her kids go to sleep due to the 

daily stress and anxiety. Still, 
her story is one of hope and 
strength. She draws parallels 
between the resilience needed 
to live with a chronic illness and 
what it takes to endure times of 
conflict.
“I believe that Israel is strong. 
And I know that people here 
are very willing to help each 
other. Everybody’s doing their 
best and we’re united against 
this terrorism,
” she says. “I see 
the resilience of Israel a little bit 
like living with cystic fibrosis. I 
think some might say it makes 
us weak, but I think it makes us 
stronger.
” 

To donate to the CF community in Israel, 

visit jgive.com/new/en/cad/charity-orga-

nizations/2463 or to support The Bonnell 

Foundation, visit thebonnellfoundation.

org.

The Bonnell 
family: Molly, 
Laura, Emily 
and Joe

RIGHT: Laura Bonnell, 
bottom, and Nirit 
Maizels in Israel, 
above, talk via Zoom.

2 3 7 0 1 H A L S T E D R O A D , FA R M I N G T O N H I L L S

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