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DFW supporters aid Israeli hospital
Photo Courtesy of Israel Benevolence Fund -- Messianic ministries in the Houston area in 2008 helped raise money to build this new trauma wing at Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, a 900-bed hospital in Israel. Dallas-area supporters are holding a similar fundraiser Saturday to gain funds for an underground emergency department at the hospital.
By Chris Beattie, cbeattie@starlocalnews.com
Tradition runs through and around Israel, even halfway across the world.
Dallas-area supporters of the religious staple, constantly a war-torn nation, are doing what they can to keep that tradition alive -- and healthy.
Friends of Assaf Harofeh Medical Center will hold a fundraiser Saturday at the Charles W. Eisemann Center in Richardson to help the Israeli hospital convert its underground parking garage into a 400-bed emergency facility.
American conservative radio and television host Glenn Beck is the keynote speaker for this weekend's event, to be held at 7 p.m. in the Eisemann Center's Hill Performance Hall, and emceed by KSKY radio host Mark Davis.
Dubbed "For the Love of Zion," the event joins fundraisers around the world in gaining the money necessary to complete the hospital's underground transformation, envisioned as a wartime emergency addition.
"Our hope is we don't have future wars, but due to the situation in the Middle East and the current threats of Iran and Egypt, another war is possible," said Aharon Cholow, director of Friends of Assaf Harofeh Medical Center/Health to Israel, the hospital's 501(c)(3) charitable foundation. "It's our responsibility as a hospital to be able to provide daily service in the heat of battle."
Situated on a 70-acre campus about 15 miles southeast of Tel Aviv, Israel, the hospital facilitates about 900 births and serves more than 150,000 patients a year, including more than 400 emergency-room patients a day, Cholow said.
It was founded on the grounds of an old British military hospital, established soon after World War I. It wasn't until the Six-Day War in 1967 that a group of volunteers, later to be known as the Friends of Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, sparked a worldwide campaign to further develop the hospital.
It's now the only hospital in the world with an on-site soup kitchen, Cholow said, and it runs other community programs such as meals-on-wheels service for the elderly and a certified elementary school for handicapped children.
And Friends chapters continue the development. Cholow said "there's been a long tradition of many people in Texas loving and supporting Israel," because of the state's connection to the nation in democracy and "religious and political response."
Fletcher, president of Golden Corridor Republican Women, met Cholow through a mutual friend who had volunteered at Assaf Harofeh. Hearing of the hospital's underground project, she wanted to help, and formed a steering committee to develop Saturday's event.
McKinney Community Development Corporation Board Chair Tracy Rath, Fletcher, Charles Christian, D'rinda Randall and Mary Kaye Adams make up the committee.
Fletcher recently coordinated and took part in a Biblical study tour to Israel and Jordan for Frisco Bible Church and First Baptist Church in Frisco, during which she spent a day at the Israeli hospital.
"I was so impressed with the multi-national involvement to support the wonderful work of the hospital, which allows them to have a much greater impact on their community," she said.
Beck and Davis, both whom Fletcher said are strong supporters of Israel, obliged to participate in the fundraiser, which will do its part to make a dent in the $10 million needed for the underground emergency department. Fundraisers in West Texas and Houston will deepen that dent, Cholow said.
Such efforts around the world are supporting Israel in the best, and preparing it for the worst. Tradition seeps from the ground on which Assaf Harofeh lays, through a nation known for religious zeal and related turmoil.
It's a tradition felt thousands of miles from hospital doors.
"This is just one way that we can stand with Israel in solidarity and support," Fletcher said. "This is a humanitarian effort...where we can have a direct impact on saving lives."
Sponsors may contribute through one of five different levels, ranging from $1,000 to $25,000 and more. A VIP reception will be held at 6 p.m. at the Renaissance Hotel, across the street from the Eisemann Center.
For ticket information, go to www.eisemanncenter.com, or call the box office at 972-744-4650.
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