When things work out right

Not the child, and not the stander:
illustrative photo from the supplier's
website

Regular readers of this blog, as well as supporters of the Malki Foundation's work, probably know that we take care to avoid exposing the families who benefit from the foundation's support from being exploited for publicity purposes. We are also very careful with their privacy; families dealing with the challenges of caring for a child with serious disabilities deserve maximum respect. They have enough on their plates.

In a similar vein, we try to be as fair and non-sensational as possible in describing the work and its impact. All of us suffer from too much self-promotion by causes with their hands out, even the worthy causes among them. So we try to keep things informative, non-mawkish and sober. We don't always succeed but we try.

But here's a piece of genuine self-promotion we're not reluctant to publicize. It comes from a note sent out to the inner circle at the Malki Foundation a few days ago. 

I have literally just now hung up the phone after speaking with Yisrael in the Keren Malki warehouse at Yad Sarah who was so excited that he said he had to share with me immediately.

He received a request through our hotline for a 'stander' [a device that allows children with difficulty in walking or standing to stand and be vertical - it's good for their bodies]. It came from a family from Tiberias who are in Jerusalem now for a few days while their daughter, who has serious challenges, undergoes surgery.

Yisrael described how he rang the father back within half an hour of the initial inquiry for which there was already much thanks. The father explained to him that the daughter is in the middle of surgery at that very moment. The father had ducked out to take a few minutes and try to arrange for her to somehow get the use of a  'stander' device. It's something she needs desperately for when they get home.

Not surprisingly, they have gotten approval from the relevant government ministry for a stander. But among other problems that come with such approvals (also not surprisingly as we know), it's going to take months and months till they actually get it. And meanwhile for the surgery to achieve the results that they are praying for, they need one NOW.

Father doesn't think we'll have in our warehouse what the child's therapist has recommended but maybe we can suggest something similar, he says to Yisrael - something they can use in the meantime.

Yisrael, as everyone knows, gets into action in super-fast time, and knows just what needs to be done. So he takes the child's height and weight measurements from the father over the phone, and then explains that we happen to have a range of Rifton standers in our lending unit right now - various sizes, various features. Yisrael gives the model number for the father to look up online.

The father is stunned. The unit that Yisrael recommended happens to be the exact model they need and had just gotten a price quote from the local supplier... for NIS 20,000 plus VAT!!!

He was so-o-o-o excited, he dropped everything and came straight over to the Keren Malki office at Yad Sarah to take delivery of the stander immediately. Yisrael proudly says the father is ecstatic. He's so grateful that words are not enough. He asked to pass on his gratitude to all involved.

Amazing feeling of satisfaction when things work out just right, right?  :)