Thank You Letters
June 22, 2008
To "Friends for Health"
My name is Margarita Meltzer, 47, from Jerusalem. I am married with one daughter.
I have had a melanoma for more than eight years, which has spread over the last two years. No treatment has yet been successful.
Just as my doctors and I were almost at the point of quitting, they found an exact match between my cancer tissue and a drug called Glivec, which my oncologist highly recommended.
At first my family and I were overjoyed there was something new to try, but we quickly discovered that this drug was not really designed for my particular type of cancer (although its surprising suitability was promising) and so my health agency was not prepared to fund it.
When we heard it cost $5,000 a month, we were devastated. That was just impossible for us, an average-earning family.
Miraculously, we contacted your organization through the Cancer Foundation and within eight hours of my first conversation with you, we had two months worth of Glivec! Free of charge and with no bureaucracy!
Words cannot express our thanks for your unbelievable work! Thanks to you, I have more time now to see if the drug does work for me, and to fight for recognition with the health agency.
After a traumatic period of stubborn bureaucracy and heartache, our family sincerely thanks you for your sacred work. You have been a shining light on our darkest journey.
With thanks and much appreciation,
Margarita, Alex and Elena Meltzer
June 5, 2008
To Mr. Yehiel Landman and the "Friends" Volunteers,
On behalf of myself and my family, I want to thank you so much for all the help you gave us in managing the fund for my late mother, Abigail Livrider, who needed the drugs in her fight against kidney cancer.
I found everyone at the organization to be good and generous people, who all helped us as much as they could at a time of great distress. I want to especially thank Miri, Rachel and Shira.
Thanks to "Friends", we were able to pay for a number of treatments for my mother at a cost of almost $30,000.
Your work is really a sacred occupation. May you be blessed.
In deep gratitude,
Yochai Livrider
Nes Ziona
October 18, 2007
To the "Friends" organization,
We wanted to thank you deeply for your help in finding a donor for the Iresa drug, a medicine that is saving my life. It costs $2,300 and thanks to you, my life has been extended by another few months.
My family and I have no words to express our gratitude, especially to Rachel who helped us find the donor.
May there only be more people like you. You deserve all the respect
and honor in the world and from us many, many, many thanks!
Sincerely,
Yaakov Traigerman and family
June 4, 2008
To "Friends"
Thank You!
To all those involved in "Friends" holy work, I want to sincerely say thank you for your warm help and dedicated assistance in dealing with my Xeloda pills request.
I just want to support what you're doing and say that at a time when the country neglects its responsibility towards its citizens, and when it appears that every person looks out for their own wellbeing, there are still a few good people around, and most of them are in your organization!
On behalf of myself and I'm sure on behalf of many others, I want to say thank you again and pray that you will rewarded on High for all these good deeds you're doing every single day!
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Chagit ben Shabbat
Shalom Yihiye,
I'm passing on my sister-in-law's thanks – Malka ben Ezra. Thank you – Etty.
Shalom Yihiye,
You don't know me but Etty, my sister-in-law, contacted you in the past about a bone marrow transplant.
After I'd given birth to my son Almog, I got breast cancer. I've been trying to get better for eight years now, and it came back again. I was in a very bad way – it spread all over my body – and Professor Reuben Or decided that my only chance of survival was a personal bone marrow transplant.
The cost – which the health agency decided not to fund for some reason – was $50,000. We were flat broke after spending a fortune on the Gemzar drug, which has only now been accepted into the drugs package. My family, friends, my husband's work colleagues all clubbed together but it was nowhere near what we needed.
We contacted everyone we could – Knesset members, ministers, special needs committees – and they either didn't even reply or told us we were wasting our time. Better we should give up and say Kaddish.
Etty was the only one who took up the challenge, with the most meaningful advice ever. Thanks to her I'm still alive and writing to you. And I mean every word.
She gave us the phone number and address of "Friends for Health", who also deserve unlimited thanks for their holy life-saving activities.
Since then it's all begun to move. They enveloped us with love and warmth, opened a bank account for donations, helped spread the word and thanks to them we raised enough money to go for the transplant.
Today, a month and a half after the transplant, the doctors are very happy. I feel great and am recovering. And together with my family I'm very hopeful of many healthy years to come.
"No words can express
No look can convey
No touch can prove
No act can cover
And cause you to see and understand
Just how much I thank you
From the bottom of my heart."
To "Friends" and Mr. Yehiel Landman,
I want to try and express my feelings and deep gratitude to your organization.
I am 39 and have had a kidney transplant for 20 years. A year and a half ago, my situation deteriorated and I had to start dialysis.
I had a hard time and the only solution to return to normality was another urgent kidney transplant. There was no time to wait on any waiting list. It was now or never, and it had to be overseas.
Which meant a large sum of money and some serious fundraising.
We had no idea where to start. And then "Friends" came along.
I can only thank you and your organization with all my heart and soul for the help and support you gave me even during the hardest times, and for opening the way to raise the funds necessary to have the transplant.
Thank God I'm now recovering well.
It's good to know there's someone to turn to for whatever you need in your darkest moments.
May there be more like you,
Wishing you a Happy New Year,
Levi Slavo
March 18, 2008
To Yehiel Landman and the "Friends" Team,
I've just recently returned from a successful kidney transplant in the Philippines (largely thanks to you.)
I am now healthy and my quality of life has improved no end – no more debilitating dialysis three times a week!
Thank you and your team for all your help – with warmth, sensitivity, love and professionalism.
May you have the strength to help save the lives of many more people.
Thank you.
Eli Lahat
Shalom to all at "Friends for Health",
We contacted you four months ago to ask for help with a kidney transplant for my mother.
Last January we went to the Philippines for a successful transplant.
I want to sincerely thank you for the support, the help, the generosity and professionalism with which you accompanied us, especially during those difficult hours before the transplant.
Special thanks to Rabbi Landman who guided us and gave us strength during the bad times and to Miri and Rachel who answered our every need with grace and never-ending patience.
May you always be on the side of the givers, healthy and strong.
In deep gratitude,
Shlomo Zafrani and family
