A non-profit holds a Chinese auction. Employees are asked to go above their job description and contact friends and relatives to purchase tickets. And what is their reaction? Eye rolling? Whispered complaints at being put upon? Attempts to get away with a minimum? Or none of the above? The Ezer Mizion staff would be shocked at such suggestions. Each request sent out by employees to friends had a note attached, many entitled ‘Why We Work Here’. Here are some samples:
At Ezer Mizion, somehow, cancer always takes center stage. The bald head, the boy with the bulging eyes, together with the fear that lurks deep in the heart of every one of us. My job is coordinating rides. Not front page material. But for the young mother spending months in the hospital with her preemie, it meant a breather every so often, time to spend with her other kids.
Running such a system of transport, meals— costs money. And this money has to come from people like me and you. From people who can understand why the transport system is a lifesaver, and how, with a hot meal, you can give someone life and hope.
Another one:
A week ago, I was in the ER. I still get the chills just thinking about it… the utter helplessness. But then I understood why I can’t change jobs. Because suddenly, when I saw an Ezer Mizion volunteer giving out sandwiches, I understood that even though my work is in a different department, it enables people to get their sandwich and coffee…and hot meals…and a warm embrace.
That this amazing enterprise enables people to obtain medical advice. And support for the family dealing with mental health issues or a special child or an Alzheimer’s patient. This list goes on and on.
And please G-d, : please keep illness away from me and the people I love.
The responses poured in. Some with notes like the one below.
Every year, we enter the auction, but we never win anything. Not everyone has that mazel…
This year we decided that with money tight, we’d pass.
After a premature birth, we had to spend a lot of time in the hospital. There, at every difficult moment, we met up with Ezer Mizion — hot meals, homey rolls.
Outside the operating room, we sat with a lot of other people who anxiously awaited word of their loved ones. Suddenly, three Ezer Mizion volunteers came with a cart and graciously offered tea, coffee, and cake. At every hour and in every corridor, an Ezer Mizion volunteer awaited us and, with a warm smile, offered a meal, a ride, to take our place at the patient’s bedside or a listening ear.
For us, Ezer Mizion was like a beam of light in the darkness. And so, despite the financial crunch, we joined the auction.
And, to think that this is just the tip of the iceberg of Ezer Mizion’s huge world of chessed is simply mind boggling. May Hashem give you tons of money and energy to continue! The W. family
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.
