A group of women in Los Angeles recently launched an effort to raise money to buy infant formula for impoverished mothers in Israel who are unable to nurse their babies. The Jerusalem-based organization Yad Eliezer already feeds 2,000 babies every month but has a long waiting list. The organization is reaching out to communities across the United States, hoping to encourage Jewish families to celebrate births in their own families by supporting a family in Israel.
Rabbi Dov Weisel, Yad Eliezer’s director and the son of its founder, met with women at the Hancock Park home of Hindy Mayer in an effort to establish a network in Los Angeles.
Yad Eliezer has 19 programs and 12,000 volunteers that support 18,000 families in Israel through meal programs, emergency funds, medical support and social service programs. Its Feed-a-Baby program buys cases of formula for needy families who might otherwise feed the babies watered-down formula, which can lead to medical and developmental problems.