Build a safe room for my parents

Hi, my name is Maytal, I live in Australia and I am fundraising money for my parents, Evelyn and Harold.

My parents live in the north of Israel, where the Hizbolla missiles are bombarding daily.

The north of Israel is beautiful green and peaceful, and has many communities that farm the lands and believe in equality and peace.

Since the start of the war it has been totally devastated by missiles that frequently cause dramatic bushfires (with temperatures soaring in the 40') that fire fighters are struggling to tackle, they cannot use air crafts as they are then targeted by further bombing.

The Kibbutz where they live has a very tight and loving community, where all ages support each other and are a strong support network to each other.

My mother works as the local seamstress and my father runs the pool during the summer months, this is their main source of income, which is another reason keeping them where they are.

Since the start of the war tens of thousands of civilians from northern Israel have been evacuated but with no where to go.

Two years ago, most bomb shelters in their kibbutz (Kfar Hanassi) were removed due to safety reasons. However, no new ones have been put in place.

The law in Israel requires that any expansion of an existing home, or a new one built, will include a safe room, called "Mamad". There is no subsidy for this by the government, and the cost is an astronomical amount of 200,000 shekels, equal to $80,000AUD.

My parents are community people who devoted their entire lives to working in the community. When the kibbutz went bankrupt, many people like them were left with no pension (equivalent to superannuation in Aus), meaning they were had to start saving for their retirement at roughly the age of 60.

Due to this reality, they have no financial means of building a safe room in their home to keep them safe during the daily rocket barrages in the north.

A safe room is quick to build, and so we are hoping to achieve the financial goal in this campaign to allow them to start works straight away.

Currently, when rockets are falling, they are told to lay on the ground if they are outdoors, or stay by a wall if indoors, and from tragic stories of others, those options will not keep them safe.

Not having a safe place to escape to during these moment is absolutely terrifying, and I can see the trauma starting to deeply impact their well being and mental health.

I am with hope that the wider community will have a heartfelt response to our reaching out, and help in any way, big or small, as we know times are tough for everyone.

Many have met my parents over the years and know them to be kind hearted and giving individuals, I pray that this time they will be met by the same kindness of others.

As an end note, if the situation worsens even more, it would be my biggest dream to bring my parents to the safety of Australia, using the funds donated.

This will allow them the financial means to stay here for a good while (as their health care payment get cancelled after 8 weeks out of Israel, leaving them with no financial means to afford a living here). Being here will allow them to restore a sense of safety and recover from the trauma they are experiencing.

All funds will enter my parent's Australian bank account, so they can transfer that money to Israel to pay the builders. The reason for this is that GOfundme do not work with banks in Israel, for funds to be sent there directly.

Please share this if you can <3

With lots of love and appreciation,

The Wallach family.