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American Friends of Magen David Adom - ARMDI supports the lifesaving efforts of Magen David Adom (MDA) in Israel as the tax-exempt fundraising organization representing MDA in the United States. Although it receives no government-budgeted funding, the MDA team of trained volunteer and professional medical responders is mandated by the Knesset to provide the entire nation's pre-hospital emergency medical care, including disaster, ambulance and blood services. The MDA National Blood Services Center provides 100% of the blood needs of the Israel Defense Forces and 95% of the blood needs of Israel's hospitals. AFMDA supporters built the MDA National Blood Services Center, continue to build or renovate many of MDA's emergency medical stations throughout Israel, and supply MDA with a wide range of emergency medical supplies, equipment and ambulances. Most of the 800 MDA ambulances and Mobile Intensive Care Units that are on call 24/7, logging nearly ten million miles and caring for nearly 550,000 patients annually, were donated by AFMDA.
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THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD TAKES TZEDAKAH TO WHOLE NEW LEVEL
Donations in lieu of bar mitzvah gifts raise enough
to purchase two ambulances for Magen David Adom
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The Leeds family - top row left is bar mitzvah boy Robert, Alisa, Charlie, Andrew, and bottom row Jonathan, and parents Dina and Fred.
SANTA MONICA, CALIF. (February 5, 2012) — One of the Beatles’ most beloved songs is “Imagine.” This is a story about 13-year-old Robert Leeds, who did just that.
Dina and Fred Leeds of Los Angeles, could not have had a prouder moment than when their son, Robert, decided he wanted his bar mitzvah gifts to go toward the purchase of an ambulance for Magen David Adom (MDA), the Israeli-based emergency response agency. They never dreamed these gifts would add up to enough money for two ambulances. The family felt that a bar mitzvah is much more than a fun party. It is a time when a child takes on responsibility and decides what’s truly important in his life.
When the invitations to this grand event were mailed, the return card stated, “In lieu of gifts, let’s come together and do a very special act of kindness in our holy land. Join hands and put a lifesaving ambulance on the ground in Israel. Please send your tax-deductible contribution in Robert’s honor to MDA.”
More than 800 people attended his Beatles-themed bar mitzvah and generously responded to that request. As guests followed the red carpet to enter the Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Airport, where the reception was held, they were flanked by two different types of MDA ambulances, reminding the guests of the cause to which they had contributed.
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READ FULL STORY
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MAGEN DAVID ADOM AMBULANCES IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA
Operating from 119 Emergency Medical Stations throughout Israel, from the northernmost city of Metulla to Eilat, and including 14 MDA Stations in West Bank communities, Magen David Adom ambulances continue to proudly display the “Red Star of David” or “Magen David Adom.” There has been no change in this policy. MDA ambulances have displayed the “Red Star of David” since the organization’s founding in 1930 and any rumors or allegations to the contrary are simply not true.
Every day, throughout Israel, Magen David Adom medical teams are on alert, operating nearly 900 ambulances that travel 10 million miles to care for 600,000 patients. Heart attacks, strokes, work, home and road accidents, illnesses, pregnancies and so on, in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Nahariya, Metulla, Tzfat, Jerusalem, Rehovot, Sderot, Ashdod, Be’er Sheva, Eilat, Dimona, as well as Efrat, Kiryat Arba and Ofra, MDA is SAVING LIVES IN ISRAEL.
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AFMDA MOURNS EVA MAMES, MICHIGAN REGION PRESIDENT
American Friends of Magen David Adom is deeply saddened by the loss of Eva Mames, President of AFMDA’s Dr. John J. Mames Chapter – Michigan Region, named for her late husband. Dr. and Mrs. Mames were both Holocaust survivors and they founded the Michigan chapter after Israel’s Six Day War in 1967. Mrs. Mames worked tirelessly for decades to raise funds for ambulances, medical equipment and stations in Israel – and inspired others to do the same. Always modest about her achievements on behalf of AFMDA, Mrs. Mames and her incredible dedication to the cause will be greatly missed by everyone in the organization.
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CONNECT WITH AFMDA
Receive AFMDA eNewsletters and special updates. Send your email address to info@afmda.org with "eNews List" in the subject line.
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Make "Saving Lives in Israel" your legacy, with an AFMDA Charitable Gift Annuity
Sample annuity rates for an individual*
6.0 percent return at age 65
6.5 percent return at age 70
7.1 percent return at age 75
8.0 percent return at age 80
9.5 percent return at age 85
*rates subject to change
| -Receive attractive guaranteed payments for life
-Receive a current year, charitable income-tax deduction
-Leave a Legacy for Magen David Adom
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Call 866-632-2763 or email plannedgiving@afmda.org for a confidential discussion about planned giving opportunities at AFMDA.
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MAYOR BLOOMBERG, WITH HIS SISTER MARJORIE TIVEN
DEDICATES MDA FACILITY IN MEMORY OF THEIR FATHER |
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JERUSALEM (October 23, 2011) – American Friends of Magen David Adom (AFMDA) celebrated the dedication of the William H. Bloomberg MDA Jerusalem Station in Jerusalem today in the presence of many dignitaries including New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Mayor Bloomberg was responsible for donating the lead gift to dedicate the new, landmark Magen David Adom Station in Israel’s capital in memory of his father. In the nearly five decades since William Henry Bloomberg passed away, the same year in which the previous MDA station in Jerusalem was opened, Jerusalem’s population has grown and diversified many fold, and Magen David Adom’s Jerusalem Region has become the busiest of all MDA regions.
In his comments at the dedication ceremony the Mayor said, “My family was attracted to Magen David Adom because of its spirit of volunteerism and its unwavering commitment to treat all people equally regardless of race or religion,” he said. “Today is a great day for Magen David Adom, its supporters, my family and the people of Jerusalem.”
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ISRAELI MAN CHASES WORLD RECORD WITH MONTHLY
BLOOD DONATIONS |
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Menachem Steinmetz at the blood donation center.
TEL HASHOMER, ISRAEL (April 4, 2012) -
A 65-year-old Israeli man has taken tzedakah to a new level, giving of himself, quite literally, by donating more than 272 units of blood to Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency medical response service, over the course of 41 years.
In 2011, blood donations in Israel were down to a record low with only 4 percent of the population giving blood. But Menachem Steinmetz, a 65-year-old man from Rishon Lezion, countered the trend and broke Israel’s blood donation record and is 42 units shy of the current world record. And he doesn’t plan to stop any time soon.
“I’ll donate until the age of 70, if I’m allowed,” he said. “And I plan to use every moment. As long as I’m still able to be on the side of donating blood and not the other side, I’ll continue to donate blood. Really, why not?”
Dedicated blood donors like Steinmetz are essential for sustaining Israel’s blood supply. Magen David Adom collects, stores, and distributes all the blood for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and 95 percent of blood for the nation’s hospitals.
People who can’t physically be in Israel to donate blood to Magen David Adom, can also make a financial contribution to American Friends of Magen David Adom to help support Israel’s blood services. AFMDA can be reached online at www.afmda.org.
“Israel’s blood supply is an indicator of the overall health of the Israeli people,” said Arnold Gerson, chief executive officer of AFMDA. “Donating to this cause is a concrete way to impact Israelis and save lives each and every day.”
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