Israeli fire and rescue squads got a little bit of help from an unexpected source recently, friends of the board of Cleveland Jewish National Fund in Barry Feldman and Sandy Zieve. After hearing about the need for more firetrucks in Israel during a Jan. 11 presentation by Ariel Kotler, development officer of Israel operations for JNF, and Shmulik Friedman, chief of operations for Israel’s fire and rescue services, the two Cleveland-area residents stepped up and donated funds to help purchase a fire truck for Israel.
Mindy Feigenbaum, Northern Ohio director of JNF, said trucks are badly needed in Israel to both the aging fleet of existing trucks and a rash of large fires. She estimated that a truck would go on 1,000 to 2,000 calls annually.