In the first days after Sandy hit I saw posts on Facebook pointing out how America is always quick to send aid overseas but always helps itself with no outside aid.
Well that’s not quite true. As usual, little Israel is one of the first with planes full of useful stuff. I’m sure America’s other great friends in the Middle East are all lining up supplies of cheap gasoline as we speak no?
New York, NY — November 4, 2012 … Israel Flying Aid, the Israeli global humanitarian organization which was first to land in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake, has been distributing large supplies of gas to hospitals, food, batteries and generators to Hurricane Sandy victims.
“We have many years of disaster relief experience,” said Israel Flying Aid North American Operations Manager Moti Kahana.
“Israel Flying Aid, in having Israelis on the ground here in New York and New Jersey, have made Israel the only foreign nation to provide humanitarian assistance to the US during this disaster. We are working in coordination with FEMA, local police, the American Red Cross and Jewish communities in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.”
Kahana said that most of the efforts had been donated by Israelis living in the US and this enabled gas to be distributed to hospitals in New York and New Jersey.
Joel Leyden, an Israel Flying Aid Operations Specialist who was with the IFA in Haiti, has been working with the Greater Hartford Jewish Community to distribute both food and generators on Long Island.
“We had a convoy of food and generators move out of the Greater Hartford area early yesterday morning,” said Leyden.
Aussie Dave adds: I had to delete my post on the same story since we don’t do duplicates!