On Thursday, February 28th, 2019, United Hatzalah of Israel will be holding its first ever Gala evening in Los Angeles, California. The event will be aimed at generating opportunities for people in Southern California to get involved with Israel’s all-volunteer life-saving organization.
In addition to providing an evening of entertainment, attendees will learn about United Hatzalah’s unique initiatives and how they can get involved. According to Regional Development Officer Dorene Nili, “The event will not simply be another fundraising dinner. We are looking to get people from Los Angeles engaged in what is going on in Israel every day. Whether it is by learning how they can organize a CPR course in their own community, or learning about programs that they or their children can participate in such as the Camp Rescue summer camp, United Hatzalah’s NREMT cooperative training program, our Day of Lifesaving initiative, traveling with us on our Spring Mission to Israel, or joining our young leadership program, there is literally something for everyone.”
Nili spoke about how the Gala’s main purpose is to generate community assistance for community responders. “It’s about communities helping communities,” she said. “Fundraising events happen all the time, especially in California. What makes this one different,” Nili explained, “is that the United Hatzalah LA Gala will provide attendees the opportunity to engage themselves, their families and their networks in being a part of our life-saving mission. Our organization is based upon people stepping up and taking the initiative to help others. Our EMT volunteers give their time at a moment’s notice and drop whatever it is that they are doing to immediately help people they don’t even know. And they save lives regardless of race or religion. We are offering the people of Los Angeles the opportunity to become partners in that. We’re not looking for people to simply come to a five-hour sit-down dinner. We want people to take an active role to help save lives in Israel. When your family or mine go to visit Israel, they may actually be called upon to help save a life. They may even be the ones who need the help. We want our community here to help others and to help themselves by supporting our volunteers in doing what they do best.”
The event is drawing some very special guests from around the Los Angeles community and beyond. Former Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa has already confirmed that he will be in attendance, as will the Deputy Chief of Mission and current Israeli Consul Eitan Weiss. Israeli musician Dudu Aharon will be providing the main entertainment for the evening. The event is being chaired by Ami Pomeranc and co-chaired by Dina Kadisha Aspen. It will be MC’ed by Israeli fashion model Esti Ginzburg.
One of our youngest exceptional attendees will be United Hatzalah volunteer and West Hollywood resident Coral Sellouk. Coral’s volunteer efforts were covered in the press last summer after her United Hatzalah and NREMT training helped her successfully save the life of a stranger who collapsed on the sidewalk in front of her home. Sellouk had just returned from Israel, where she had helped save lives as a United Hatzalah ambulance volunteer in Rehovot, and she performed CPR on the man by herself for five minutes before she was relieved by ambulance services. She received an official letter of gratitude from the fire chief of the station that responded to the incident and was credited with saving the man’s life. Following the incident, Sellouk said: “It’s not just lifesaving in Israel that we are supporting when we support United Hatzalah. We are supporting our own communities as well.”
The Gala will take place on Thursday, February 28th at 7:00 P.M. at the Beverly Hilton, 9876 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. For tickets, tables, and sponsorship opportunities, please visit the Gala website: https://uhlagala.com/gala/.