HUGE CROWD WAITS IN LONG LINE TO GET FOOD FROM THE LEV HACHESED CHARITABLE ASSOCIATION
Shimshon Selig, Chairman of the Association, calls on members to contribute to the charitable organization that helps needy families and distributes every day
By Zahava Hever Article from Gal Gefen, Rishon Lezion, Hag Sukot
On the eve of the Sukkot festival, a huge crowd waited outside the "Charity Mall" - the Center for the Distribution of Food to Needy Families. The atmosphere is tense, and with emotions running high the police arrive to try to calm those waiting
Last Thursday there was a scene outside 43 Rothschild Street that looked like it had come out of a film, whose director had decided to capture the tense situation full of contrasts in a special way. It is festival eve, and in the luxurious Rothschild Mall city residents are making their last purchases for the holiday. Many leave weighed down with the packages and presents they have purchased to make the Sukkot holiday nicer. Just nearby, at the "Charity Mall", appears a long line of women, the elderly and children, stretching back to the road, those in need of food, standing and waiting impatiently to get something to eat for the festival.
The people who come out of the Mall loaded down with shopping, stare curiously at the long line, and ask - what happened? What are they giving out? And carry on.
And opposite the line just gets longer, and nerves get stretched. The atmosphere is tense, with those waiting pushing and shoving to get a better place, hoping to get food, which the charity's volunteers have been preparing for them in the large hall, in bags full of all sorts of goodies.
Several dozen policemen, the community patrol and volunteer civil guards arrive and try to calm things down and to control the hungry, frustrated and jittery crowd. In order to prevent a disaster they help arrange the distribution in a better, quieter way. Towards midnight everything is over, and the charity's volunteers heave a sigh of relief.
The charitable organization Lev HaChesed is located at 43 Rothschild Street, and the main distribution of food parcels takes place every Thursday and on festival eves from 6 in the evening. The heads of the charity association are Rabbi Yitzhak Grozman, the Chabad emissary in Rishon Lezion, and Ronen Singer, the Association's General Manager.
The location has been renovated, and advanced refrigeration and freezer rooms have been installed, as well as a well-equipped kitchen, lots of shelving and much more.
The association every week distributes food parcels to 525 families, according to a list received from the Rishon Lezion Social Services department.
According to Singer, they get new names every day of more families in need, based on requests and reports from the city's social workers. "Yes, it is hard to swallow, but there are children who are starving", says Singer, who adds that help is given to religious and secular alike, without any discrimination of where people came from. He goes on to request help through donations, and anyone interested should call 056-840424.
