(Journal News-New York) Peter D. Kramer - On May 1, Allan Rubin's family dedicated an ambulance to the memory of his wife, Olivia, a longtime ambulance volunteer in Chestnut Ridge who died four years ago. The vehicle will be sent to Israel to aid Magen David Adom, the Israeli Ambulance Service. Gary Perl, a coordinator with the American Friends of Magen David Adom, said about 75 ambulances are donated each year by Americans for use in Israel. "I like to say when you give an ambulance to the people of Israel you get a double mitzvah, a double good deed," Perl said, "because it supplies jobs for the American worker, these are GM vehicles assembled in Indiana, and then it gets shipped to Israel." Every other month, a freighter carries about a dozen ambulances out of Baltimore, bound for Israel. "The donation for an ambulance of this type is $100,000," Perl said. "That includes the shipping, insurance and outfitting it with all the equipment." "Donors who give $125,000 can sponsor a medical intensive care unit; those who give $175,000 can earmark it for a bloodmobile." For more information on American Friends of Magen David Adom, go to afmda.org.
2016-05-06 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive