Sukkoth 5783
October 2022
New Year Greetings from NATAN’s Advisory Board
From the members of the Advisory Board, Best Wishes for the Jewish New Year to all our friends and supporters around the world. Your support has helped NATAN achieve more than ever in the past year: This year alone, NATAN sent over 250 volunteers to help victims of natural disasters in Haiti and Nepal and to help refugees from Ukraine and Venezuela, while dental volunteers provided care to people in need in Israel. Since all our staff are volunteers, all donated funds go directly to the field, to help people in need
What is the Advisory Board? We are group of American supporters of NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief who assist by spreading the word about NATAN’s remarkable work and seeking out partners and funders who can help carry out our mission. The Advisory Board helps with communication, sharing our enthusiasm for a humanitarian organization which is still “Israel’s best kept secret.”
Much of NATAN’s financial support has come from Israeli friends and family of the volunteers. Now, more is coming from donors outside of Israel. When we tell Americans about the mission of NATAN, about its agility in responding to natural disasters and refugee crises, with professionals who take leave of their jobs to go where their skills and experience are most needed, they are in awe.
Each of you can help by sharing your knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, NATAN. Please pass this newsletter along to friends and family.
Shana Tova,
Alan Silberstein
Chair, NATAN Advisory Board
Ukrainian Refugee Relief Operation in Numbers
200 volunteers, from
3 continents, in
15 multidisciplinary teams
6 months operating 24/7 medical clinic at refugee transit center
25,000 medical patients treated
60 Ukrainian professionals trained by NATAN psychosocial experts
110 children attending summer camps
Countless smiles and reassuring hugs dispelling trauma and despair
Spotlight on Donors and Volunteers
As we begin the Jewish New Year, we look forward to continuing our vital humanitarian work with renewed strength and resolve. We look back on the achievements of the past year, made possible by our donors and partners and by the incredible dedication of our volunteers, all professionals, all committed to the values of Tikkun Olam – making the world better, one good deed at a time. This newsletter puts a spotlight on our volunteers and our donors – including the wonderful story below.
A gift from a small village in Israel saves lives in Poland.
Just after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, people came together at Café Alona in Alon Hagalil, a small community settlement in the Lower Galilee region of Israel. Determined to help, they began to collect money from friends and patrons of the café. They were able to purchase this Lifeline Mobile Defibrillator with the money they raised. The device was donated to NATAN and used by our medical teams in Przemysl, Poland throughout our operation to aid Ukrainian refugees. On August 21 it saved the life of one of these refugees. A woman went into sudden cardiac arrest, and she was resuscitated by our team members with this tiny mobile defibrillator: A genuine Lifeline, true to its name. This incident has been fully documented by medical professionals and is recorded in NATAN’s operations reports. Thank you, Café Alona, for this life-saving gift!
Above: Event documentation from Aug. 21 incident. ECG readout documenting sudden cardiac arrest and resuscitation
Our Volunteers Speak
Faida Swaed, Registered Nurse, Team 12
“Volunteering is a purely humanitarian act that has nothing to do with race, color or religion. I am a human with energies and movement. I want to heal people and give them help and assistance and relieve them of their pain.”
Faida Swaed lives near Haifa in the north of Israel, in the town of I’billin, where she was born and raised. I’billin is an Arab town with a mixed population of Muslims and Christians. Fayda is a mother of three, a teacher and a nurse, working with special needs patients in Haifa. Faida joined NATAN’s 12th delegation to Poland in the Ukrainian Refugee Relief Operation in July. Read Faida's story in her own words here.
Marina Mann, Camp Counselor
NATAN’s Summer Camp for Ukrainian and Polish Youth
“Making a difference in someone’s life goes beyond the language barrier. It is about paying close attention to the children’s needs and finding what it is they really require to forget their worries and just be children again.”
Marina Mann of Brazil is a member of the Hashomer Hatzair World Movement currently participating in a leadership program in Israel. Marina served as a camp counselor at the summer camp for Ukrainian and Polish youth in the Polish town of Cieszanow. 60 campers (ages 10-16) from Ukraine and Poland and 7 young leaders (16-20) took part in activities including English language classes, sports, crafts, music, and dance - led by counselors from the youth movement Hashomer Hatzair and managed by NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief and Folkowisko Foundation. The camp was sponsored by The Kosciuszko Foundation of the USA. Read Marina’s story here.
Marcelo Dratcu, MD, Brazil, Team 14
"Volunteering in Poland was an overwhelming experience. NATAN is amazing, based in Israel and sending Jewish and non-Jewish volunteers wherever they are needed. NATAN’s administration, organization and professionalism are admirable.”
Marcelo’s dedication to humanitarian work was inspired by the example of his father, a holocaust survivor who came to Brazil to start a new life. “The most important example he left me was to always stay positive. I don't remember him complaining of anything at all. He never told me about the difficulties and horrors that he lived through during the Holocaust. He taught me to always do the right thing, to always try and help people. He was always doing Tzedakah, helping people who worked with him, and family members. Maybe the most important teaching for me was to be honest, correct, do the right thing always, and help people.” Read the full interview with Marcelo.
Volunteer Appreciation Event
On Sept. 21, NATAN held an evening of appreciation for volunteers and donors who took part in our operations during 2022. The evening was a joyful gathering of about 100 volunteers, staff members and partners from the various aid operations who attended in person, with many volunteers and partners from abroad participating via Zoom. We welcomed the coming new year and marked the achievements of the outgoing one. This was a year of impressive activity, thanks, in part, to the two hundred new volunteers who became part of the NATAN family during this past year, joining NATAN’s roster of 1,500 active volunteers.
To our volunteers in Israel and throughout the world, thank you all so much for all the good you have added to the world on our behalf. To the partners and donors who make our work possible: thank you for the trust and support you provide us, as we move forward on our common path.
Benefit Concert in NYC: Nov. 6
If you are in the New York area, please save the date.
Greetings for a New Year of Peace and Health from all the NATAN Team
NATAN management team at Tel Aviv headquarters, September 2022
