Ezer Mizion’s ‘very special’ girls This is one of the most effective and amazing service organizations in Israel. It’s reach is National and it’s help is essential. This is one organization that deserves your generosity.
Ezer Mizion, the Israel Health Support Organization, offers an extensive range of medical and social support services to help Israel’s sick, disabled, elderly and underprivileged populations. Since its founding in 1979, Ezer Mizion has grown to become one of the largest non-profit organizations in Israel, benefiting over 650,000 people every year.
How this organization came about.
A young man marries, looking forward to long hours spent with his new wife, sharing incidents from their growing up years, planning how they will bring up their own children, lengthy sessions deciding the merits of keeping his shirts in a drawer or in the closet. The first year of marriage….delightful charm in sharing a cup of coffee….hours of preparation for his homecoming and joy as he opens the door….for most people.
But for Chananya Chollak and; his new wife, their first year was not a time of bliss as they had expected. Two months after Chananya got married, his father-in-law had a stroke that paralyzed half of his body. Instead of eager confidences over a lovingly prepared supper, Chananya and his wife found themselves sharing medical updates on the run, as one took over the shift from the other. The young man may have been disappointed. He may have turned bitter and resentful. Chananya’s heart was bigger than that. He used the opportunity to grow, and, in so doing, eventually benefited hundreds of thousands of his fellow Jews.
During the long recovery process of his father-in-law, Chananya got to know the world of hospitals all too well. At the time that his father-in-law was hospitalized, a young girl with cancer was there as well. Her mother stayed with her all day, and her father, all night. Chananya organized eight neighbors to take shifts at the young girl’s bedside to give the weary parents some time to rest. With a heart that could feel the pain of others, even as he himself was bleeding with sorrow, Chananya gave birth to Ezer Mizion, Israel’s Health Support Organization, today assisting the most vulnerable segments of Israel’s society.
In his daily visits to the hospital, Chananya noticed that dialysis patients were coming to the hospital for treatment three times a week by ambulance. He calculated the cost of traveling back and forth to the hospital by ambulance to be exorbitant. And so Chananya got hold of a large vehicle, turned it into a professionally outfitted ambulance, funded by friends, and began arranging free transport to and from the hospital for medical treatment. This original vehicle has since been replaced by many, many more as Ezer Mizion’s fleet of ambulances continues to assist the ill and the frail.
Involvement with the needs of sick people and their families let Chananya and his steadily growing volunteer corps to initiate other ways to help ease the difficulties associated with illness. Realizing that proper meals for the families of the ill were needed for nutritional and emotional support, the Cholaks would send a few meals every week from their home to family members of sick people. More volunteers joined the Cholak’s efforts and Ezer Mizion’s Food Distribution Program, today a nationwide operation that distributes half a million meals a year, was born.
Similarly, the Ezer Mizion Bone Marrow Donor Registry, today the largest Jewish registry in the world, originated with a grass-roots bone marrow drive to find a matching donor for a leukemia patient, whose family was desperately seeking a genetic match for their loved one somewhere out there in the Jewish world.
Chananya Chollak receiving honorary doctorate from Bar Ilan
The following information appears on their web site.
Ezer Mizion has branches in over 20 cities throughout Israel, with over 11,000 volunteers and an annual budget of US$66 million.
Ezer Mizion’s diverse line-up of services includes the world’s largest Jewish Bone Marrow Donor Registry and specialized programs for children with special needs, cancer patients, the elderly, and terror victims.
Two months after Chananya Chollak got married, his father-in-law had a stroke that paralyzed half of his body. During the long recovery process, Chananya got to know the world of hospitals quite well.
At the time Chananya’s father-in-law was in the hospital, a young girl with cancer was there as well. Her mother stayed with her all day, and her father, all night. Chananya organized eight neighbors to take shifts at the young girl’s bedside to give the weary parents some time to rest.
Chananya also noticed that dialysis patients had to come to the hospital by ambulance three times a week for treatment. He calculated that the cost of traveling back and forth to the hospital by ambulance must be exorbitant. So Chananya got hold of a large vehicle, turned it into a makeshift ambulance, and began arranging free transport to and from the hospital for medical treatments.
Involvement with the needs of sick people and their families led Chananya and his steadily-growing volunteer corps to initiate other ways to help ease the difficulties associated with illness. The Food Distribution Program, today a nationwide operation that distributes half a million meals a year, began with a few meals sent every week from the Chollak home to family members of sick people. Similarly, the Ezer Mizion Bone Marrow Donor Registry, today the largest Jewish registry in the world, originated with a grass-roots bone marrow drive to find a matching donor for a leukemia patient.
Ezer Mizion has grown into one of the largest non-profit organizations in Israel, offering a diverse array of services to benefit the sick, disabled, elderly, and underprivileged. The dynamic organization is continually looking for new ways to provide assistance and to help more people face their challenges.
Begun in 1979 with eight volunteers, Ezer Mizion is today one of the largest non-profit organizations in Israel, benefiting over 650,000 people every year.
Key Facts & Figures
| Number of volunteers: | 11,130 |
| Number of branches: | 29 |
| Annual budget: | $66,000,000 |
| Blood bank: | 3,200 potential blood donors |
| Food distribution: | 650,000 hot meals annually |
| Number of medical equipment loans annually: | 75,500 |
| Number of ambulances: | 18 |
| Medical referrals: | over 33,000 annually |
Bone Marrow Registry (est. 1998)
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Number of registrants: |
569,795 |
| Number of transplants facilitated: | 837 |
| Number of matches: | 3,513 |
| Number of search requests: | 16,967 |
Cities with Ezer Mizion branches:
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Hospitals with Ezer Mizion stations on-site:
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People whose lives were saved by Ezer Mizion bone marrow transplant together with the donor of bone marrow
child, whose dream it was to be a policeman when he grows up, was ‘policeman for a day’.
