Let’s define ‘big’. When speaking about a business, does it refer to a company whose offices fill a large, imposing building? Or perhaps a company with branches around the world? Or does it, perhaps, refer to a company whose heart is big enough to see past the bottom line and put effort into the needs of the population that support it?
Dan’s Hotel/ King David is an example of a giant company whose goals encompass so much more than mere profit. As part of a program to enhance the lives of Israel’s population, it encourages its staff to volunteer for organizations who help those in need.
Recently Ezer Mizion’s Lottie’s Kitchen, which provides meals for families dealing with serious illness, benefited from the altruistic attitude of the King David Hotel.
Israel’s hospitals do not provide more than basic medical care for its patients. The nursing staff is unable to take the time for the little extras that can make all the difference to a patient’s spirit. A family member therefore, tries to be there for as much as possible of the 24-hour day. Running from work responsibilities to home responsibilities and then making a mad dash to take over a shift at the hospital does not leave the caretaker much time or emotional space to even think of her own needs. The vending machine becomes her kitchen for weeks on end. Coke and potato chips become the mainstay of her meals, day in and day out.
And then, like an angel, there enters a Lottie’s Kitchen volunteer with a steaming hot, nutritious, delicious meal prepared just for her, the caretaker. The volunteer will offer her a chance to talk, to share her story, to ask advice. She can hardly believe it. Someone is caring for the caretaker!
The meals will continue as long as the need remains. Midnight snacks at the Emergency Room, pick-me-ups during the day are all part of a program that seeks to provide relief for the tremendous load placed on a family when one of its members is ill. So many letters pour into the Ezer Mizion office all saying, “We never could have got through this without you!”
How do these meals happen? Where do they come from? They are packed and delivered by volunteers – caring people who want to ease the burden of these families – compassionate volunteers like the King David Hotel staff.
Dan’s Hotels/King David, Ezer Mizion salutes your humanitarian outlook and wishes you much success!
Ezer Mizion provides services to over 660,000 of Israel’s population annually in addition to its Bone Marrow Registry which saves the lives of Jewish cancer patients the world over.
