Ensuring Holocaust Survivors Don’t Just Survive – But Thrive

Despite the Holocaust ending decades ago, survivors continue to suffer and still rely on our assistance to ease their pain. Although many Holocaust survivors succeeded in rebuilding their lives, others continue to struggle with psychological trauma and poverty.

Many survivors suffer from both physical and mental ailments like dementia. For Holocaust Survivors, dementia is far more amplified than it is for others with the same disease. Most people don’t realize that aside from short-term memory loss, the dementia of Holocaust survivors is far more traumatic than the experience of regular patients. When a survivor suffers from dementia, they often relive the horrors of the Holocaust, experiencing their suffering over and over again each day.

Today roughly 200,000 Holocaust survivors reside in Israel, the largest concentration remaining Holocaust survivors world-wide and an estimated 50,000 survivors live below the poverty line. In Israel, many of these survivors have fallen through the cracks of the bureaucratic system and are virtually neglected by the government. Without the strength or wherewithal to navigate Israel’s crippling bureaucracy to receive what is owed to them, they struggle in their daily lives.

These survivors are aging in poverty. Unable to afford basic necessities, these victims of Hitler’s evil are also in dire need of medication and therapeutic treatments. Having survived the horrors of the greatest atrocity in history, it is tragic that today, Holocaust survivors must live out their final years in poverty and isolation.

But there is a silver lining. That’s because one organization has made it its mission to alleviate the suffering of Holocaust survivors throughout Israel and ensure that they live out their remaining years in dignity and with honor.

To accomplish this goal, Meir Panim provides Holocaust survivors with nourishing meals and food security that they rely on every day, while also offering the love and care they need and deserve.

Meir Panim’s signature Meals-on-Wheels program, available across the nation, delivers a warm, nutritious meal to the doorstep of survivors unable to leave their homes. But this program is much more than just a warm meal. For many, the daily delivery also involves a much-needed, warm human interaction with a volunteer from the social organization, which may be their only daily connection to the outside world. Meir Panim’s volunteers are well aware of their responsibility and take the time needed to not only deliver the food to its recipients but to also check in on their well-being. For those in dire situations, these volunteers are the only ones who can report that a survivor is in desperate need of medical assistance.

Meir Panim’s Restaurant-Style Soup Kitchens are an honorable alternative to traditional soup kitchens. That’s because they provide around 1,000,000 warm meals every year in a comfortable dining experience to poverty-stricken Israelis; for many of these people, this is their only real meal of the day. Boasting the appearance of a typical restaurant, these soup kitchens provide a friendly and family-like atmosphere. They offer the diners dignity while developing camaraderie and a sense of community. Along with the meals, the diners receive smiles, a sympathetic ear, and a loving attitude. Many of the seniors who regularly dine at Meir Panim’s Restaurant-Style Soup Kitchens are Holocaust survivors, who enjoy the nourishing meals and warm human contact.

The organization also provides tens of thousands of other Israelis suffering from food insecurity with lifesaving services such as healthy meals, prepaid gift cards for food, and after-school youth activities.

Over the past decade, tens of thousands of disadvantaged Holocaust Survivors throughout Israel have turned to Meir Panim as a source of hope and support. Those who donate to Meir Panim make a significant impact, enabling Holocaust Survivors to live out their remaining years in dignity.

Meir Panim is a private organization. This means that they run on donations from individuals to continue their holy work. To partner with Meir Panim in helping Holocaust Survivors, please consider making a generous donation to Meir Panim today. They deserve our help.

Click here to support Meir Panim today

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