An evening of appreciation honoring Ezer Mizion's volunteer drivers
Several years ago, Ezer Mizion established a fleet of over 1,000 volunteer drivers with the aim of providing transportation for the ill, handicapped and elderly who are capable of being transported in private vehicles.
The volunteer drivers dedicate one trip or more a week, to the transportation of these patients who often require the service for crucial medical treatment, such as radiation and dialysis, as well as rehabilitative physiotherapy. Most of these patients are frail and can not negotiate public transportation. the alternative - traveling by taxi or car service is unaffordable for them.
Ezer Mizion recently held a special evening of recognition for the dedicated and constant effort of these volunteer drivers who offer the use of their own cars to transport the ill, elderly and handicapped, who don't require ambulance transport. These volunteer drivers also distribute food to hospitals and homes where a family member is ill or hospitalized.
The evening was opened by Chananya Chollak, Ezer Mizion's International Chairman, who expressed his heartfelt thanks to the many volunteers, shared with the audience several accounts of the difficult cases recently reaching Ezer Mizion and noted the privilege of being on the giving end.
Mr. Amikam Tanami, Head of the Transportation Department, also thanked the volunteers and presented several examples of exceptional dedication to patients and their families, exhibited by volunteer drivers. The evening was enhanced by Hassidic singer Rabbi Moshe Weintraub and Nissan Aftergott, a guest singer.
Much more than a driver...
Thank you letters received at Ezer Mizion from children of patients who frequently benefited from the volunteer driver services.
Dear Ezer Mizion Volunteers,
My mother is a heart patient and in need of dialysis. For three years, you saved from her the effort of going to the dialysis unit and especially the return trip after the treatment, which left her exhausted.
You saved her the walk to the bus stop, the wait and the long ride in weather that is too cold or too hot. Since she subsists solely on her National Insurance stipend, and you also saved her a great deal of travel expenses.
But you didn't just save for her, you gave her so much too! You opened the door for her, adjusted the air conditioning in your car to make her as comfortable as possible, you asked her how she was feeling, you took an interest in her treatments, her life story and how she manages on her own. You shared with her events from your personal life. An entire relationship resulted from your traveling together.
My mother used your wonderful services until she relocated to a different city. For three years, twice a day, three times a week - you dedicated thousands of hours of caring to my ill mother.
You are much more than drivers! May you be forever blessed!
In deepest gratitude,
A loving daughter
It sounds like a simple act: a person arrives in a car and takes a woman from Point A to Point B. But the voluntary act is fully revealed when putting the small details together. A person makes room in his day for a stranger: takes the time, coordinates the hour and the place, and considers the time required for the trip (including traffic, weather). He takes her or helps her at home or sits by her at the hospital making himself, his time and his resources available to a stranger. And he does this consistently and diligently, time and time again.
And my mother is only one of the many patients who are served by these voluntary acts, this one, that one and another. I see before me an entire tapestry of humanity.
Especially today, your volunteering is a value call, a moral call; it signifies taking social responsibility - with action and not just theory.
Every time you start your car on the way to pick someone up, on your way to help someone at home or in the hospital - you are making a call.
In my eyes, your voluntary actions demonstrate nobility, the pure giving - and I'm not just saying the words - is the true and absolute meaning of your actions.
I thank you all for many days on which you were there for my mother and for many others like her, for warming their hearts and easing their life burden.
Thank you to Ezer Mizion and to the amazing and wonderful transport coordinator Merav for her exceptional dedication.
Blessed be you in your actions and for your actions!
Yehudit A., Jerusalem | 
