dereksbicycles
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I'm appreciative of a teenager who went all the trouble to donate 2 ambulances to Israel. I'm sure Israel is very happy and will put this to a good use.
Bar Mitzvah Boy Raises $200K, Donates 2 Ambulances to Israel / Jspace News
A teenager from Los Angeles proved his mensch status recently, donating his bar mitzvah money to purchase two ambulances for an Israeli city.
Robert Leeds, 13, was inspired after the city of Sacramento became a “sister city” with Ashkelon in the Jewish state last year. In turn, Robert started a fundraising drive to coincide with his bar mitzvah, asking for donations instead of gifts.
In total, Robert raised $200,000.
The ambulances were donated during a ceremony earlier this month, with help from the American Friends of Magen David Adom.
“At age 13, a Jewish boy becomes a man … becoming a man to me meant standing up for my brothers and sisters in Israel and helping to cushion the blows that they experience on a daily basis,” Robert said at the ceremony.
“I wanted not only for the ambulance itself to save actual life, but I also wanted the very action of sending it to be the message that you do not stand alone.”
“This ambulance dedication is a ‘thank you’ to the city of Sacramento for upholding its principles of sister city partnerships, despite the efforts of anti-Israel groups who opposed the resolution last August,” added Gail Rubin, the coordinator of the Sacramento/Davis chapter of StandWithUs.
Sacramento councilman Steve Cohn, who was one of the main advocates for the Sacramento-Ashkelon pairing, was also on hand at the ceremony to give thanks.
“I’ve been on the council for 18 years, but this was one of the most positive inspiring moments in my memory,” he said.
Bar Mitzvah Boy Raises $200K, Donates 2 Ambulances to Israel / Jspace News
A teenager from Los Angeles proved his mensch status recently, donating his bar mitzvah money to purchase two ambulances for an Israeli city.
Robert Leeds, 13, was inspired after the city of Sacramento became a “sister city” with Ashkelon in the Jewish state last year. In turn, Robert started a fundraising drive to coincide with his bar mitzvah, asking for donations instead of gifts.
In total, Robert raised $200,000.
The ambulances were donated during a ceremony earlier this month, with help from the American Friends of Magen David Adom.
“At age 13, a Jewish boy becomes a man … becoming a man to me meant standing up for my brothers and sisters in Israel and helping to cushion the blows that they experience on a daily basis,” Robert said at the ceremony.
“I wanted not only for the ambulance itself to save actual life, but I also wanted the very action of sending it to be the message that you do not stand alone.”
“This ambulance dedication is a ‘thank you’ to the city of Sacramento for upholding its principles of sister city partnerships, despite the efforts of anti-Israel groups who opposed the resolution last August,” added Gail Rubin, the coordinator of the Sacramento/Davis chapter of StandWithUs.
Sacramento councilman Steve Cohn, who was one of the main advocates for the Sacramento-Ashkelon pairing, was also on hand at the ceremony to give thanks.
“I’ve been on the council for 18 years, but this was one of the most positive inspiring moments in my memory,” he said.