ICEJ Staff Pack Groceries for 1,000 Israeli Families

ICEJ Staff Pack Groceries for 1,000 Israeli Families

By Naomi Ammon, ICEJ Publications

“Baguette or roll?” Recently, a team of ICEJ staff repeated this phrase to over 1,000 Israelis while handing each of them bags of groceries at a social welfare distribution site in Rishon LeZion.

ICEJ Staff work alongside local Israeli volunteers

Because of the prolonged war, poverty rates in Israel have increased dramatically, as the costs of living—especially the price for basic groceries—has skyrocketed. In response, a parking garage transforms every Wednesday and Thursday into a bustling food bank.

Forklifts transfer hundreds of boxes of food essentials necessary for a balanced family diet. The distribution line must move fast. Our staff from several foreign lands worked alongside local Israeli volunteers to get the job done. “Every time I volunteer in this country, there’s so many people. It’s not hard to find people who want to help—Israel is special like that,” noted Sammuel Mauch from Brazil. “The program director remembered me, and that I’m from Ukraine. He even called me by my name,” said Pnina, an ICEJ staffer who has volunteered here before. “Here, you’re not just a stranger who comes to volunteer and leave. It feels like one big Israeli family.”

Watch the ICEJ team in Rishon LeZion as they distribute food to those in need.

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“For me as a Christian, I feel that I’m pleasing God and fulfilling His word by taking care of His people,” added Priscilla Campos from São Paulo. “It’s a privilege to be part of what God is doing in this country.”

The ICEJ AID team shares a warm relationship with this social distribution center and has brought groups of Christian volunteers to this location for many years now. We also have leased two refrigerated delivery trucks for the food bank. The ICEJ is blessed to help meet the pressing needs of so many Israeli families impacted by the war.