Last month, I had the pleasure of traveling to Israel to run in the Jerusalem Marathon in support of Shalva. Shalva, Israel’s largest facility for treating individuals with disabilities serves over 1,000 kids each day and has programs for people from two weeks to 20 years old. I, along with ten of my classmates and two teachers, had to raise $3400 in order to run, and although it wasn’t always easy, we were determined because we knew it was going to a great cause. Most of the money we collected, from friends, family, and other students, went to Shalva itself, while some was allocated to pay for our three-day trip to Israel.
Yoni B. ‘24 says “it was an amazing experience, a wonderful opportunity to create lifelong relationships with my friends.” He explains how “every time you go to Israel you see it differently and being able to go with friends rather than family made it even more unforgettable.”
Jacob G. ‘24 also agrees that “it was an incredible experience” but cites a different reason. He says, “seeing tens of thousands of people join in Jerusalem for the race was awesome” but emphasizes it was “even more so [special] because we were running for Shalva and their amazing cause.”
Morah Cohen, who chaperoned the trip, said this experience was “incredible.” Although Morah Cohen is Israeli and has visited many times, she says this experience was “unique [because we were] running side by side in Shalva gear with Shalva’s team of children.” She credits the people of Israel for “cheering us on, playing music and filling the air with energy” and explained that this experience “left a powerful mark on [her] and [she] can’t wait to go there again!”
This trip was a great experience for all of us to not only meet kids from other schools but to also meet with the children of Shalva to know where our tzedakah was going to. We all came into this trip not knowing what to expect, as this was the first Shalva trip from BT in a few years, but we all came out of it delighted and with many lifelong memories. We will surely remember dancing with the kids and seeing their smiles, walking and seeing their facilities, and enjoying a huge dinner with them. I know the Juniors are upset that they can’t go back next year, but we look forward to seeing what the next group of students will accomplish in their fundraising efforts and hope their experience is as meaningful as ours was. Although we were only there for 3 days and would’ve loved to stay for weeks, it made this trip even more memorable to experience Israel in such a short period.
