Soccer balls

It was a dark and stormy night, but we went to a club for disadvantaged
children in a poor section of Netanya called Dora. The reason was to give
them a gift of 8 soccer balls that my son, who is a youth soccer coach in
Livermore CA, donated. Every season they replace their balls, and donate
the old ones to a worthy cause, usually in the US. But, this time Simon found
Mark and Marsha Novak who were coming to Israel and who agreed to bring
them with them (deflated of course). Mark called me and I went to Tel Aviv to
pick them up.
The obvious person who we called to find a suitable youth club was a man named
Moshe Shamir. Moshe is a Holocaust survivor who lost this whole family in the
camps but managed to survive. As a teen he went through the British camps in
Cyprus and came to Palestine after the war. He fought in the Haganah and then
was in the IDF. After getting an education he moved to the US and lived there
for many years. He returned after he retired and established a fund for the
disadvantaged, particularly the Ethiopian and Russian immigrants called "This
Land is My Land." Netanya has a large proportion of poor immigrants, and
there is great need. Every summer, among his many activities, Moshe runs (and
pays for) a youth camp (last time with 38 kids) in the Dora area.
He took us to a club inside a bomb shelter (every building and development has
them) that has been furbished by the municipality. Inside it was bright and
friendly and we were impressed by the amount and level of the exercise
equipment (in this case) donated by the Leeds Jewish Community in the UK.
It looked like a regular gym. There were about 20 kids there, of all ages,
including Ethiopians and Russians (quite a contrast the blacks and blonds). Of
course, they all communicate in Hebrew. The organizer is a former Russian, a
very nice man, and the trainer was also (a big guy named Oleg). They were
grateful for the donation of the soccer balls, and they took some photos of
the event. Moshe will also use them for his summer camp.
Moshe mentioned that he spoke last night to the WIN group, this is a
Hadassah-USA program called 'Winter in Netanya.' At present the weather is
very wintry, but it has been very pleasant. This group goes on trips and
participates in local programs. Anyway he got some contributions, so he was
happy. He is a very dedicated man.
Every week he also has morning sessions at the AACI where he translates any
official documents that immigrants receive from government offices, banks,
etc. that they can't understand (it happens with us too) and he helps them.
Moshe also told us a story, that a few days ago a young (Russian) man arrived
unexpectedly at his door, and thanked him effusively for the help he had given
him some years ago when he was young, by giving him scholarships that had
enabled him to go to high school and college, and he is now an engineer with a
degree from the Haifa Technion, and he gave Moshe a check for 1,000 shekels
(about $250).
Anyway we were glad to help Moshe and the poor kids in our town even if in a
small way.