A plea for assistance from Israel, please read and help if you can

Dear Friends

I am sure you are aware of the tragedy that unfolded last Saturday evening here in Tel Aviv. The shooting, the murders, the human pain and suffering has shaken the entire community to its very roots. Our friends, our families, our neighbors, whether, gay or straight, Jewish, Muslim or Arab are horrified and enraged.

All is not clear at this moment as to who is responsible or the reasons why.

It brings to mind the morning of 9/11, no one knew exactly what was happening, each of us were amazed , shocked and dazed but at the precise second in that very moment all of us knew that our world had changed forever.

All the GLBT organizations in Israel are working and co-coordinating together. spearheaded and directed by The Aguda, the National Association of GLBT in Israel.

The Aguda will do whatever is necessary to heal the community, to support the families of those who are no longer with us and those injured. But this horror has hurt us badly and we are putting out a global cry for aid and assistance.

We are a strong and proud people who have survived other tragedies.

As the days pass, emotions will calm, plans will be made, and those responsible will be found and community will heal and lives will return to normal.

At this moment, we know that we need financial assistance desperately.

We need to organize counseling for those youths that were in the Center and were fired upon by the gunman. When you look at these young boys and girls you can see the horror in their eyes and you know they have been wounded deep in their souls.

We need to organize long term counseling for the entire youth membership and their friends and families. These kids many who travel hours by bus to come to our center, are hidden away, we need to be able to reach out to them. This takes FUNDS.

Our help and assistance HOTLINE is now operating extended hours. Our volunteers are manning these phones day and night and have committed to keep these lines operating every day until the community is back on its feet. We need to support these volunteers and recruit and train more of these dedicated men and women. And this takes DOLLARS

Our Home has been desiccated and we do not know the extent of the damage or how long it will be unavailable, we need to find a temporary center away from the nightmare and we need to be open immediately to keep our programs intact and let the community know that we are strong and are here for them.. This takes Money

We now have to develop security measures to protect our members, our volunteers our staff, this is very difficult because a lot of our members are discreet or closeted. We cannot put armed guards at the doors, we cannot have cameras filming them, and we cannot have registration or even demand identification because a large percentage of these members would just vanish into the oblivion. In many cases from the Youths to the seniors we are the only connection they have to the GLBT world. To develop and install this type of security is costly and this takes SHEKLELS.

This nightmare that has rained down on us, hits us at a time that the world is already being squeezed by the economic crisis.

As you know when the financial world began to collapse and the global economy turned downwards the wealth of our membership shrunk along with their disposable income and their charitable donations. Our friends in America face the same problems, so it is difficult to ask but we have to. We have to ask all of our friends for every drop of financial support they can offer.

Now we are faced with the financial burden of this nightmare which fare exceeds our emergency funds and the ability for our small community to burden. We are begging for help and assistance from our brothers and sisters around the globe. We are asking everyone to take a minute from their busy schedules and to do whatever they can to help... Today... not tomorrow, not next week... We need the help now.

Our Chairperson Mike Hamel and our Board members have charged me with raising funds from our American and Canadian friends and supporter.

And I am asking each of you to help co-ordinate, communicate, contact, and urge your members, your congregations, your associations to help NOW.

Fund raising takes time and co-ordination...Which at this moment we do not have... We only know that we have an immediate need and I am asking you with all of my heart… to please find a way to help.

Ask everyone you talk to visit our website, www.glbt.org.il; donations are easily done on our website.

We have set up a special email address, Emergency@glbt.org.il. Please feel free to contact us through this address to if you need to arrange to make a pledge or donation

Anyone who wishes to make a corporate donations or support or to arrange a special donations, or grants or financial aid can contact our financial board member, Oded Katzman, at Oded@glbt.org.il

You can also contact me through my personal email at Barry@glbt.org.il

Please this is urgent, call me, call our offices, and send us an email... Day or nights do not think about the time difference we are here to make this easy for you…

Regards

Barry Norman

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[Jana.Schmidt@urbanamerican.net]

Jana.Schmidt@urbanamerican.net