Editor’s note: The article that appeared in the Sept. 30-Oct. 6 Cherry Hill Sun has been retracted. The correct version, seen below, will appear in the Oct. 7-13 edition.
Throughout the past several weeks, communities in southern Israel along the border with Gaza have been set ablaze. Terrorists in Gaza have been attaching explosives to children’s balloons and letting them loose, creating dangerous conditions for the men, women and children walking the streets.
Closer to home, one of Cherry Hill’s own is doing something to help. Betsy Fischer, chair of the Jewish National Fund’s Gaza Envelope Task Force, is organizing efforts to build fortified spaces that can withstand the blast of a bomb and fundraising to provide critically needed fire fighting equipment.
Fischer joined the Jewish National Fund (JNF), a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for all of Israel’s residents, after observing her husband’s work with the organization. She joined the board around 2008, and in 2016, she served a two-year term as president of the South Jersey chapter.
During her term as president, Fischer met with the fund’s CEO, Russell Robinson in Manhattan. She wanted to get more involved in the organization, but she wasn’t sure how best to help. During the meeting, she explained that one of her favorite JNF projects was an indoor, blast-proof playground in the city of Sderot, located on the border, that offered kids an opportunity to play safely inside. She wasn’t involved in the project, but wondered how she could get involved in something similar.
With that, Robinson informed her she would be leading a new task force to raise money and awareness for the Israeli citizens living along the dangerous border, and in the fall of 2015, the Gaza Envelope Task Force was formed. She traveled to the western Negev in the south with the members of the Task Force shortly thereafter to meet with the area’s mayors, their staff members and residents to find out more about their needs.
The first project for the task force was raising funds for a blast-proof, counseling room added to a resilience center in Eshkol. The resilience center (a term used in place of trauma center) needed a location to hold group counseling where its participants wouldn’t have to run for cover in the event of an attack and that could also serve as a safe headquarters during emergencies. Members of the task force flew to Eshkol for the groundbreaking.
Next on the docket was an Animal Therapy Park in Sderot. Once completed, the park will look a bit like a zoo and will offer animal therapy treatment for children suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Fischer said many children in the area suffer from ongoing stress from living in a constant state of alert. The park allows children to come in, spend time with an animal and receive therapy at the site. The project is currently nearing completion.
From there, the task force set out to build another blast-proof playground. Fischer said while the one JNF built in 2008 is still standing strong, the task force wanted a place where residents living a bit further south could play safely without having to travel. So it is creating a blast-proof community gathering place in Eshkol, around 30 minutes from JNF’s first blast-proof playground.
“That’s going to be a game-changer for the area,” Fischer said.
Now, she and her team have set their sights on their next project: an emergency walk-in clinic in Sderot, for which they are currently raising funds.
They also rallied to send support in the face of recent terrorist attacks. Fischer said the Gaza Envelope was recently being attacked by somewhere between 40 and 60 incendiary balloons or kites a day. So, JNF held a Zoom fundraiser to finance firefighting equipment, currently in short supply.
Since kicking off its emergency campaign on Aug. 25, JNF has raised approximately $1.4 million toward the security and firefighting needs for Israeli communities on the Gaza border. With that money, the fund was able to purchase two fire trucks, four all-terrain vehicles equipped with firefighting apparatus, general fire fighting equipment and four bomb shelters.
Fischer said while COVID-19 has delayed some of the other ongoing projects, the task force is not slowing down its efforts. Her team has pivoted with the times and hosts virtual fundraising events to ensure its work continues. Fischer said the people living in Israel are the driving force behind all efforts.
“People who live in this area are amazing, resilient people,” Fischer said.
To donate to JNF’s Gaza Envelope Emergency Campaign, please visit https://my.jnf.org/gaza/gazaemergency2020.
