We cook for 280 Israeli soldiers every day. Help us keep going.
I'm Raya, from Naharia, a small Israeli town near the border. Together with a bunch of neigbours and other folks, we cook homemade meals for 280 soldiers at the front every day, and on weekends - it's 600. This costs a lot and we can no longer afford it without help.
More and more soldiers are asking for homecooked meals, and we need your help to provide those to them.
There are no big orgs involved here, no CEOs getting paychecks or big campaigns buying ads. It's just us, a bunch of regular folks, working all day to cook for our boys and girls in uniform.
Every cent you give, goes 100% to buy food for soldiers.
What's this about?
On October 7th, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel from Gaza. They slaughtered 1200 men, women, children and babies. Since then, Israel has been at war, and not only in Gaza. Hezbollah, a terrorist organization even larger and more heavily armed than Hamas, is attacking the northern border of Israel every day, with rockets, mortars, anti-tank misslies and drones. North of Israel is under constant threat of an invasion that may make October 7th pale in comparison.
Many thousands of Israeli soldiers are fighting to protect that border, and a lot of them got stationed right next to me.
When they came, I asked around to see how I can help. I don't have money to spend, but I do love to cook and have got spare time. So I started cooking for soldiers, and they loved it, and told other soldiers. I got together with a bunch of neighbours and friends, we asked for help from locals for groceries, someone even gave us a kitchen to use for cooking. The word spread, and now we are cooking for 280 soldiers daily, and on weekends it goes up to 600. We call ourselves "Sayeret Or", which means "Team Light" - because we bring a bit of light into all this.
The costs for groceries are unfortunately becoming more than we can handle, and donations from local friends and businesses can't go on forever. We are really trying to keep feeding our boys and girls at the front, and even feed more.
It's so sad to see that more of them want the meals and we just don't have any more to spare.
We need your help.
What's the money for?
It's important for us to clarify: nobody is getting paid here. There's no CEO, there's no staff, nobody is getting paychecks, not even a cent. Everyone is a volunteer, we give it our all, for free.
The money goes 100% towards buying groceries to cook the meals.
We also intend to post photos of the groceries and meals on the Updates page (past meals are already there).
If you know someone from the area, you can also give groceries directly, not just money. We need chicken, meat, rice, pasta, veggies, and trays that we use to deliver it to the soldiers. You can contact us 0525620363 to give any of those (or pretty much any food, we'll find a way to turn it into a meal).
Thank you!
Q&A:
Is the food kosher?
Yes, we have a mashgiah ("kosher supervisor") who is also a volunteer, and everything is kosher.
I am a soldier / know a soldier in Northern Israel, and would like to get a hot meal. What do I do?
We'll be glad to help! Contact us at 0525620363
Can I give produce, not money?
Yes! We'd be glad to receive chicken, meat, vegetables, rice, pasta.
Why do you need to feed the soldiers? Don't they get food from the army?
Army provides food, but more like "survival rations". For us, the soldiers are like our kids. What's better, to have kids each those rations, or to get a homemade hot meal?
