What a massive cheque, in size and value

ANT KATZ
In June, as rocket and mortar fire from Gaza against the Israeli civilian population intensified, MDA were being stretched to the limit and asked their collection agencies around the world – MDA-SA is one of the largest and may even be the single largest per capita – to intensify their collection drives, Jewish Report began a campaign which eventually collected around R80 000 from readers.

This heightened awareness of the need for funding for MDA at the time.

RIGHT: Maxi’s Butchery’s Trevor Wainer (with pen) and Max Klass sign the R263 176 cheque as MDA’s Mark Hyman and Joe Rivkind look on. Pic: ILAN OSSENDRYVER

Each year Maxi’s Kosher Butchery, like many other kosher businesses, print Hebrew calendars for their customers. Maxi’s ask for a minimum donation of R20 per calendar and give all the proceeds to a different welfare group each year. They do not even take back their production costs. Previous recipients of their largesse have been Yad Aharon and the Johannesburg Chev.

This year, Max Klass was discussing with his son Lee in Australia who should be the beneficiary of their calendar “sales”. They decided on MDA, but added an additional leg – Max and partners Trevor Wainer and Sikki Isakow decided that they, themselves, would donate five per cent of their pre-Rosh Hashanah sales to MDA too.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW PICTURE

RIGHT: In this picture are MDA-SA chairman Mark Hyman, extreme left; and treasurer Joe Rivkind, extreme right, who hold onto the cheque as Maxi’s Butchery’s (from left) Sikki Isakow, Trevor Wainer and Max Klass hand it over. Pic: ILAN OSSENDRYVER

By then the Gaza operation was in full swing and MDA’s need was so much greater, a fact that Jewish Report kept the community abreast of every week.

In the end, Trevor told Jewish Report, their customers donated far more than in previous years when making donations for their calendars. “Quite a few, who didn’t need calendars, regularly put donations into the box as well.”

The outcome was that Maxi’s and their customers collected and donated R131 133, which once doubled by the sponsor, came to a whopping R263 176.

This was more than sufficient to purchase the vehicle and so it was decided by all concerned that the additional amount would be donated to cover its operational costs as well.

LEFT: The new 3-wheeled ambulance, similar to this one, has a spare battery, a defibrillator and most of the medical supplies normally carried in an ambulance. In congested areas, it allows first-responders to be on the scene, fully equipped, a lot faster than an ambulance. It will carry the name of MDA-SA and Maxi’s Butchery proudly on its side for many years to come.