.jpg)
Victims of war-torn countries around the world experience numerous types of injuries from embedded shrapnel and lost limbs to life-threatening wounds and severe blood loss. Israel is among one of the hardest hit regions with patients overcrowding its hospitals daily.
The American Friends of Magen David Adom (AFMDA) aims to help. The national organization supports life saving efforts of Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s pre-hospital emergency medical network and only government-mandated ambulance and emergency medical response team. Its main focus this year is to aid Sderot, Israel and neighboring towns, prime targets for Gaza Quasam rockets for the past eight years.
Bucks County residents also aim to help, having newly formed the Bucks County Friends of AFMDA with a 2009 goal of $100,000 to fund medical training and equipment that assists people of all races and religions. To reach that goal its members offer a unique fundraising event in conjunction with the Star of David Bikers that occurs on Sunday, June 14, called the “Star to Star Ride and Motorcycle Show” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Newtown.
The registered ride will begin and end at the Shir Ami Synagogue, 101 Richboro Road. Over 200 riders from across the East Coast will traverse scenic Bucks County then attend a motorcycle showcase and competition featuring live music, food, drinks, games, prizes, merchandise booths, and displays of new and vintage motorcycles. The event, open to the public, will provide fun for all ages, bike enthusiasts or not.
The Star of David Bikers, a Jewish motorcycle club that regularly participates in charitable rides, will be joined by other groups from around the country. Their efforts will add to various Bucks County Friends’ donations, including school students and their parents who raised funds with car washes, book sales, and Bar and Bat Mitzvah projects, and others who gave money in lieu of receiving holiday gifts.
The event’s name, “Star to Star,” signifies the blue star symbol worn by Star of David Bikers and the red Magen David that represents MDA. The cyclists display their emblem with pride as they ride for charity.
MDA is Israel’s second line of defense. Approximately 1,500 professionals and 12,000 trained volunteers give pre-hospital emergency medical care like disaster, ambulance, and blood services. MDA National Blood Services Center provides all of the Israel Defense Forces’ blood requirements and most of Israel’s hospitals and general population’s blood needs. Its fleet of 700 ambulances and Mobile Intensive Care Units travel over 6.75 million miles per year doctoring more than 700,000 patients. It operates from over 100 Emergency Medical Stations and 11 dispatch stations in the diverse communities throughout the region.
MDA also extends beyond Israel’s borders to help people all over the world, including Hurricane Katrina and East Asian tsunami victims. International first response teams study with them to learn their cutting-edge techniques that include the establishment of the MDA Israel Cord Blood Bank for stem cell and cord blood research for the treatment of many cancers and blood diseases.
For information about AFMDA, the Bucks County Friends effort or the “Star to Star” ride, contact Sharon Schmidt, Philadelphia’s AFMDA Director at (215) 947-7007; Mark Melmed at Bucks County Friends, (215) 968-0615; or Louis Nemtsov, Star of David Bikers, (215) 364-7277. See the Star of David Bikers website at www.starofdavidbikers.org.
- www.starofdavidbikers.org
- www.afmda.org/
- http://www.shiraminow.org/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magen_David_Adom
- www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Health/mda1.html
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sderot
Comments