Exclusive: Olam Chesed's Efforts Mean the World to Recipients in Eretz Yisroel

by M.C. Millman

Last week, it was a Rockland-wide community clothing drive benefitting evacuees in Eretz Yisroel, who were forced to leave their homes and everything they had behind, as reported by Rockland Daily here,  and this week, there are similar drives across the tri-state region similarly spearheaded by Olam Chesed/World of Giving. 

"Anytime there is a crisis," Rabbi Mordechai Roizman, Rockland resident and founder of Olam Chesed/World of Giving, explains exclusively to Rockland Daily, "the best in humanity comes out. Our focus is disaster relief, and we are supported by those who are going out of their way to do anything they can to make a difference. It is definitely inspiring and energizing to partner with people like that."

"Our focus is on the evacuee families," Roizman continues. "Right now, there are over 100,000 evacuees, and as the war progresses, there are only going to be more and more as each town and village is asked to leave, often with shirts on their backs. Right now, these people don't have the comforts of home. At first, they were put in hotels, but now they are out of rooms in hotels, and so these families are being placed in schools and halls where it's even less comfortable. So many don't even have a change of clothes. We have the ability to give them that comfort, and that's Olam Chesed's purpose right now as we continue making a rolling response."

The items collected during the drives spearheaded by Shoshana Bernstein of SB Writing and Communications, a community activist, are shipped and distributed by Olam Chesed/World of Giving, whose expertise in all logistical aspects is necessary to ensure the donations reach the appropriate destination without being delayed. 

Olam Chesed has already distributed clothing and shoes to over 2,000 families as they send out pallet after pallet. 

"We have initiated a very robust response," Roizman says. "We are sending three more shipping pallets tomorrow and another pallet the next day. We are able to do this because we have the experience. We have been sending pallets weekly to Eretz Yisroel for months now."

Olam Chesed has also sent aid to Haiti after the earthquake and to other areas after flooding and hurricanes, as well as to Ukraine, making a tremendous kiddush Hashem wherever their goods go. 

It's not just being able to send the pallets that's important. It's knowing the right protocols to make sure that the deliveries aren't held up by customs when they arrive. 

"We know how to get donations of merchandise through to Israel," explains Roizman. "We have enough experience by now in this very challenging theater that we know what products need safety certificates or other documentation so that nothing we send gets held up or refused. It's a shame that when well-meaning people want to help and spend time and money on an endeavor to help but have no experience in the import/export or humanitarian field, their donations can go to waste. 

"With all of this that is going on, I am so proud to be a Jew because there is nobody who understands how we give ourselves over to each other and are all in it together with our fellow Jews. If we could just tap into that strength once we are beyond a crisis like this, we would be even more incredible."