In a gala event last month, the Colel Chabad organization highlighted their important work throughout Israel.
The organization’s director, Rabbi Sholom Duchman, addressed the audience. In his speech, he brought attention to the phenomenon of elderly people and even Holocaust survivors in Israel suffering from hunger, deeming it a “loneliness epidemic.” The Rabbi explained that they “suffer from deep loneliness and social isolation.”
In response, the organization extended its services to not only feeding the elderly but to befriending them as well. “We have scheduled over ten thousand visits of young students to elderly lonely Holocaust survivors.”
Following his address, a video showed Eliyah, one of their volunteers, delivering food and befriending an elderly lady named Eliza. Eliyah opens up about how she now interacts and plays together, aside from just delivering food. They tell each other stories, laugh, and dance.
Rabbi Lipsker added that during the holiday of Chanukah, over 1,500 students gave and lit Chanukah menorahs “together with an elderly person they did not know existed just a month ago.”
To donate to Colel Chabad and help provide for Israel’s hungry, lonely elderly population, Click here.
