JERUSALEM – More than 1,000 patrons from around the world joined United Hatzalah, Israel’s largest emergency response volunteer organization, to honor Chilean philanthropist Leonardo Farkas recently at the Jerusalem Theater. Three internationally renowned Jewish liturgists, Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot (Park East Synagogue, NY), Cantor Netanel Hershtik (Hampton Synagogue, NY), and Cantor Shlomo Glick (Jerusalem) performed for the crowd.
Farkas was honored for his long-time support of the organization, particularly in Tzfat and Haifa where he has underwritten equipment and operating costs of the Hatzalah units in those regions. He is known internationally for his philanthropy, including contributing $10,000 to each of the 33 trapped Chilean miners in 2010.
“I have had the pleasure of knowing Leonardo Farkas for many years. His unwavering support to our volunteers and to the people of Israel who are helped everyday because of that support, is an example to us all,” said United Hatzalah Founder and CEO Eli Beer.
Cantor Glick was recognized at the event for his work as a United Hatzalah volunteer, where he serves as a medic in the ambucycle unit, and goes on life-saving missions on an ongoing basis. A short video showed Glick leaving in the middle of a recording studio session to run to help a person in need, and then returning to finish his session. The honor was awarded to Glick by Prof. Avi Rivkind, head of the Hadassah Medical Center’s Trauma Unit and Emergency Medicine.
United Hatzalah is Israel’s first and largest fully-volunteer emergency rapid response service. With a fleet of over 250 ambucycles, United Hatzalah’s 2,300 volunteers respond to nearby emergencies from mobile-alerts and are able to arrive first on site to administer urgent care within minutes from the initial call of distress. United Hatzalah is a fully non-profit organization that relies solely on the generous gifts of supporters worldwide as all emergency medical treatment and transportation is administered by fully trained volunteers. For more information please visit www.IsraelRescue.org or watch United Hatzalah Founder and President Eli Beer’s TED talk.
