Page 28 - HaMizrachi #32 RH-YK 2021 USA

“They came to a place of

darkness and brought light.”

The tragic collapse of Champlain Towers South in the Surfside neighborhood of
Miami on the night of June 24 has hit the Jewish community particularly hard as
many of the missing residents were members of local Orthodox synagogues.

FLORIDA

JOE ZEVULONI is an Israeli-
American entrepreneur,
founder of Simcha Layeladim
(mywish4u.org) and organizer
of Strong for Surfside, a
volunteer network that
provided thousands of kosher
meals to first responders and
family members of victims
of the Surfside collapse.

When Champlain Towers collapsed,
the Surfside community was devas-
tated, literally overnight. How did
Strong for Surfside, your network
of volunteers, emerge from this hor-
rific catastrophe?
When Champlain Towers collapsed,
Surfside was in absolute chaos. The
scope of what happened was over-
whelming. Thousands of people were
streaming into the community – rela-
tives of the victims, emergency workers,
rescue personnel, police and fire depart-
ments. All of this emergency personnel bureaucrats in the area to tackle the Surfside’s community center, about half
needed support; food, supplies and so logistical problems, I got nowhere. a mile from Champlain Towers.
on. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait Together, we dove in and repurposed
People were helpless, and government for the government to get started. My Eli’s kitchen to prepare over 3,000 high
officials seemed vulnerable too. When friend, Eli Ginsburg, is the owner of quality kosher meals a day – teriyaki
I approached the mayor and other Surf-n-Sides, a kosher restaurant in salmon, rib eye steak; you name it.

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