ALYN's Heels of Love

With over 20 years experience guiding groups, Assaf Priel will be our guide. Assaf spends at least 50 days/year in the Negev and has led groups from all over the world, including the US, Canada, and the UK. He is an expert in the region, including the geo-history, flaura, and fauna of the paths we will be taking.

Dr. Beeri is the Director General of ALYN Hospital. At ALYN, she has led the direction of the hospital to use technology to create cutting edge resources that enable children who have been through trauma or been born with severe physically challenges. 

Previous to her current position she served as Vice Hospital Director and Head of the Medical Day Care Rehabilitation Department at ALYN. She also heads the Multidisciplinary Clinic for Infants and Children with Feeding Disorders.

For many years, she has been involved in an array of health and social initiatives to promote the care rights of children with special needs, including the Early Intervention Coalition, which represents over 60 organizations and associations for children with special needs. She holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University as a Wexner Israel Fellow.  

Maurit is married to Professor Ronen Beeri who heads the Cardiovascular Research Center at Hadassah Hospital and is the mother of three boys and caretaker to two cats. She was a participant in the hiking route of Wheels of Love and is looking forward to the Timna-Eilat trek.

Aryeh recently completed a solo hike of the entire Israel National Trail. His experiences are chronicled in his book, My Israel Trail which described how he recovered from a devastating divorce by embracing the challenge of walking the length of Israel with only a pack on his back and a map to guide him.  

An expert in regional affairs, media issues, and Israel history, Aryeh has been a leading advocate and activist for freedom and democracy in the region for the past two decades, and is a well-known, dynamic and captivating speaker.  He has an extensive background in both the public and private sectors, having served as a senior adviser to minister Natan Sharansky in the Israeli Prime Minister’s office and as an executive or consultant for some of Israel’s leading companies.  

Aryeh is married to Miriam and with 9 children between them they call themselves ‘the Brady Bunch on steroids’. When not raising investment for EnergiyaGlobal’s Jerusalem-based platform for renewable energy in Africa, raising funds for HonestReporting’s MediaCentral project promoting accurate coverage of Israel in the foreign press, and talking about his book and the lessons learned while hiking the Israel Trail… Aryeh grows grapes and makes wine in Beit Shemesh – the House of the [Rising] Sun.

Aryeh has been involved with ALYN for many years, dating back to the days when he used to play his guitar for children receiving treatment. Last year, he participated in our sky-diving project for ALYN.

3 day Hike: We will fly you from Tel Aviv to Eilat on Tuesday, February 19 early in the morning. We will pick you up at the Eilat airport and take you to the trail. We are designing the route to be about 5-6 hours, around 15 kilometers per day. We will have a hot breakfast and hot dinner every day and sandwiches, fruit, nuts and other fun camp things for lunch.

2 day Hike: We will fly you to Eilat from Tel Aviv on Wednesday, February 20. We will take you to the campsite where we will have breakfast with the 3 day hikers.  Then we will hike the next 2 days together, again hiking 5-6 hours each day. The hikes are interesting with some climbing and descending up and down mountain ladders but no technical skills required. You should be in good shape with a good pair of hiking shoes, but you do not need to be a marathon runner.

1 day Hike: Either have us book your ticket or make your own way to Eilat. You will join the group for the final day, including the Dolphin Reef (see below)

On Thursday, we will finish the hike in Eilat on Thursday afternoon. Our tentative plan is to take you to the Dolphin Reef  where you can take a hot shower, relax in the massage pools, and we can have a wonderful farewell dinner together.

Each participant will receive:

• 3 deluxe trekking dry-fit shirts 
• Transportation to Eilat from Ben Gurian Airport and back
• Hot food for breakfast and dinner at the campsites. Lunch will be sandwiches, fruit, and snacks. All meals are certified kosher.
• Tents and all camp needs. Camping mattress/ground cover. We will set up the tents (one per hiker) each night together.  Hikers must bring warm sleeping bags.
• Showers, dinner, and relaxation pools at Dolphin Reef Beach

• We will be accompanied each day by a professional guide, paramedic, and ALYN staff

The cost of participation is a nominal $200 registration fee and a minimum fundraising requirement or donation of $3,000 for the ALYN’s Children’s Hospital ($2,000 if you would like the 2 day option.)   All contributions are tax deductible in Israeli, American, Canadian, and UK currency.

We ask one day hikers to raise or give $1,000.

We ask that everyone raise the minimum required amount by February 12 (one week before the hike.) We will keep your pages open for another week so you can raise even more by telling your friends how amazing it was! We will ask you to commit to covering any fundraising gaps before the hike starts. But to make sure you are good, now is a great time to start (or continue) your fundraising.

Besides online donations, the American and Canadian Friends of ALYN office can accept checks and bank transfers and issue American tax receipts. To get in touch with them , email Maayan. We will post all these donations to your page and add the amounts to your totals.

The more you know about ALYN, the easier you will be able to raise donations. Read more about ALYN.