Stephanie Peck
Eighteen pallets filled with toiletries, clothes, tactical gear, and first aid supplies were sent to Israel from Virginia Beach last month for soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces and families displaced by the war in Israel.
These items were donated and assembled at the Sandler Family Campus on Monday, Oct. 16, as part of a large community effort sponsored by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Strelitz International Academy, and Chabad of Tidewater.
The Sibony family, Israeli owners of Sunsation stores in Virginia Beach, picked up more than 100 boxes from the Sandler Family Campus to be organized and sealed on pallets – for free.
According to Nofar Trem, UJFT’s Israel engagement manager, the pallets were sent in two shipments. Interdel GCT shipped the first set, offering a substantial discount in the shipping charges. Volunteers of The Tavor College for Social Leadership received these pallets in Israel and then distributed the contents to IDF soldiers and reservists from different units on the ground.
The second shipment, which is for IDF soldiers, reservists, Magen David Adom, and displaced families, was sent to New Jersey on Nov. 7 by Worldwide Express and from there was loaded onto a cargo plane to Israel.
Israelis Yarden and Shlomy Peer were so touched by the initiative taken by the Jewish community, that in addition to donating money to the Tidewater Supports Israel 2023 Emergency Fund, they also paid for half of the cost of shipping. Volunteers of the Tavor College for Social Leadership are again distributing the supplies.
ZIM, the Israeli shipping company, had offered free delivery by boat, but the three-week travel time did not fit the immediate needs of those in Israel.