About IsraAid:
IsraAid is an international NGO based in Tel Aviv with extensive experience coordinating large-scale humanitarian response missions around the world. They are currently doing everything they can to meet the urgent and long-term needs of affected communities in Israel.

About Melissa Liberson:
Melissa grew up in Phoenix, AZ. Her parents - from Chicago and Brazil, respectively - met in their 20s on the kibbutz where they were both working. She grew up with a strong connection to Israel and got to go on a month-long trip with her synagogue at 16, followed by a Birthright trip after college.

After October 7th, she was in close contact with Israeli friends and former sleepaway campers, now military age. Everyone had lost someone they knew or loved. Like many others here, she was donating money and looking for ways to help. In November, she spent two weeks in Israel as part of the first cohort of volunteers organized by Birthright Israel. Israel is an exporter of produce, but between Israelis called to reserve duty and Thai farm workers going back home, the beginning of the war created a shortage of hands. Her group worked in the fields and orchards of Moshav Zrahia, just east of Ashkelon. They picked, sorted, and packed pomegranates, persimmons, and lemons, saving about $100k of produce that would have been lost. The experience of being in Israel weeks after the attacks is not one she will soon forget.