Zohar Harel - Simcha Layeled 2023 -Together we will win

How does a child with severe illnesses and physical disability cope during the "Swords of Iron" war? How do they manage when they need to enter the shelter?... if they even have one?! And what if they are among the thousands of children who were evacuated from their homes? Children who no longer live in their homes, lacking familiar frameworks like school and friends, without their regular primary care physician who they also rely on for comfort and backing... This emergency is when the support of Simcha Layeled is required more than ever! The war that began on October 7 brought two fundamental changes to the organization: Simcha Layeled had to urgently respond to hundreds of families with sick and severely disabled children in the North and South. The association had to significantly expand its activities in hospitals and the evacuated centers. All this requires financial assistance, which, unfortunately, in these challenging times, does not come from the Israeli Government! Regular donors understandably divert a significant portion of their donations to emergency and war related efforts. As an organization that also assists with emergencies, while focusing on chronic challenges of disable children, Simcha Layeled has felt the pinch, and is lacking its usual support. *What is the purpose of this campaign? As the association's founders cover fixed costs, all the donation funds will be directed to the care of children affected by the war. Simcha Layeled is a registered non-profit organization, that has been operating for 20 years to help and care for the many special children requiring its unique services. Today, more than ever, Simcha Layeled sustains these children coping with long term illness and physical disabilities, who because of the war, are displaced from their homes and usual educational and social frameworks. Simcha Layeled provides the necessary nurturing relationships and critical entertaining and stress releasing activities through our one on one volunteer program that continues to bolster and embrace the children during these challenging times. Simcha Layeled is: 1. An organization that supports over 500 children with chronic and severe genetic diseases that hinder their normal development and integration into society. The association cultivates and enriches each participant with a personal mentor and an individual development and integration plan. 2. An organization that plans and operates activities in more than 50 children's wards in 14 hospitals nationwide. Throughout the year, it supports and alleviates the physical and mental suffering of over 20,000 hospitalized children and their families. Thanks to the support of Simcha Layeled, many of its alumni integrate into the army and later into the workforce, successfully establishing families, while some even return as mentors to the organization. The association has around 700 active volunteers, with approximately 400 volunteering every week. Simcha Layeled has branches in Jerusalem, the North, the Center, and the South.