Friends of Melabev
presents
SECONDHAND LIONS
starring Robert Duvall, Michael Caine and Haley Joel Osment
English with Hebrew sub-titles
Wonderful family film!
Tuesday - October 12 - 4 Heshvan
The Beit Shemesh day care center has been given preliminary approval for a land allocation by the Jewish Agency to build a new facility. With a very long waiting list of elderly who wish to participate in the program, the approval couldn't come too soon. Melabev director Motti Zelikovitch expects to have initial plans for the facility in the coming months.
There are 37 participants in the program, which has been located in the Zinman Community Center in Beit Shemesh since it began five years ago. We appreciate the use of their space, but unfortunately it was not originally built for dementia care. This puts extra burdens on the dedicated volunteers and staff . In addition, since the physical structure does not meet the standards of the Bituach Leumi (National Insurance Insitute), the government does not pay anything towards coverage for the services Melabev renders.
Alzheimer's disease is one of various types of dementing diseases. Difficulty in remembering, and forgetting routine everyday matters, is usually the first sign to the patient's family that there is a pathological disturbance in brain function. As a result of memory loss, disorientation in places, particularly unfamiliar ones, gradually develops. Later, even places that the person visits often, such as his children's homes or even his own home, become strange to him. The sense of time becomes confused as does memory of the chronological order of past events. Recent memory is much more affected than distant memory, and only in later stages of the illness does distant memory suffer. Perhaps because of the difficulty with recent memory, past experiences and memories become more meaningful in everyday life, and the patient seems to live more in the past than in the present.
A common reaction by the patient to his memory loss is to blame others for misplacing, or stealing his things. Sometimes this paranoid reaction extends to actual delusional thinking, with thoughts of persecution and hallucinations - a form of psychosis associated with Alzheimer's disease. These phenomenon cause much distress to the family, and often to the patient, who may become frightened, confused or agitated.
More than 200 volunteers assist Melabev staff in helping to care for the elderly participants . Some drive, some work with the elderly during meals or activities, and some do even more.
A group of unusual volunteers has been a source of Melabev fundraising and public relations for many years. The Friends of Melabev Committee, an award winning group, established the unique Virtual Dinner as well as organized the Annual "Don’t Forget Us" Walkathon. These two events alone greatly boost the total annual fundraising for Melabev and increase public awareness of Alzheimer's disease and Melabev's role in easing the burden on families who struggle with it. Save the Date for the Friends' upcoming event - a film screening - set for Tuesday, October 12, soon after the holidays. The committee is meeting now to also help plan for the 30th anniversary celebrations.
Are you interested in getting more involved in helping maintain the quality care of the elderly of Melabev?
Consider joining the Friends of Melabev, who need your ideas, time and help with their activities. For more information, call 02-655-5826 or e-mail: melabev.org@gmail.com
Photo:Friends of Melabev planning activities for the 30th anniversary:
Front row: Ida Fry, Miriam Litke, Edie Gelman
Standing: Sylvia Wallis, Freida Horwitz, Jan Sokolowsky, Nina Cohen, Nancy Brown
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is a time for introspection; it is a time to review what one has accomplished and to set goals for the future – as individuals and organizations. This year Melabev will celebrate its 30th anniversary of providing innovative caring services for people with Alzheimer's disease. And there is indeed much to be proud of - but more to do in the future.
I have spent considerable effort to make Melabev run more efficiently and make each penny count. This year, with the help of the staff, I have succeeded in cutting costs by 15% without compromising the quality of care. But that is still not enough. A significant and shared budgetary problem is the large and growing gap between actual costs of day care services and the coverage for eldercare by the government.
I was recently chosen to head a committee of the 180 nationwide daycare center directors to document the gap between the fee payments received from Bituach Leumi (National Insurance Institute – NII) and our actual operational costs. Even if we are successful, it will take months before the gap between income and operating expenses actually close. In the meantime, Melabev staff rely on your help to maintain Melabev's exceptional and unique array of programs to the Alzheimer's victims and their loving family members who need us. Please open your hearts - and pockets. Please support our fundraising efforts and contribute generously.
In 2009-2010 alone, despite the global financial uncertainty, Melabev launched many new initiatives and received a number of awards including:
