Wheels of Love 2020

We know that for many of you, the thought of asking friends for money to fundraise for the ride is uncomfortable and might be uncharted territory. Don’t worry – fundraising is much easier and more rewarding than you might expect, especially when you are raising money for such an incredible cause.

ALYN Hospital is such a unique and special place, that once you share with others about the hospital and the children receiving rehabilitation there, people will be willing to support you. How do we know? We have nearly 20 years of experience and thousands of riders who have successfully raised money for ALYN as proof.

Remember, the people who will sponsor you will do so because of your relationship with them. They are YOUR friends and YOUR family! They trust what you have to say. The more personal you can make the request, the better.

Start by personalizing your fundraising page. You can login to your page and personalize the text and upload a special picture of yourself.

Once you have your page set up the way you like it, send the link with an email to your contacts. You can post it on Facebook or other social media. Again, the more personal you can make the request, the more likely you are lto receive a favorable response.

Remember the four basic rules:

1. Aim high. Set an ambitious fundraising goal for yourself. The minimum you need to raise is between $3,000 and $4,000, but we hope you will aim for more. If you can ride for five days straight, up and down hills, through all types of weather, you can certainly go the extra mile for the children of ALYN. Over 50% of riders raise over $5,000. That’s a great goal.
2. Make a personal donation. Lead by example. To convince others to make a contribution, it helps to show that you are equally committed to the cause. Your registration fee helps pay for the ride logistics; donations are sent directly to the hospital.
3. Ask friends and family. It’s easiest to start with those closest to you. Once you convey your excitement about participating in Wheels of Love and they learn about ALYN, they will be happy to support you. Suggest an amount with which they would be comfortable.
4. Expand your asking circle. If you think beyond closest family and friends, there are endless possibilities: neighbors, work colleagues and business associates, acquaintances from school, college, synagogue/church, the health club and your biking club. If you work for a company with a matching gifts program, you may be able to multiply the effect of your gift. A basic rule of fundraising is that the main reason people give is because they have been asked by someone they know and trust. That someone is you!

Please help me help the kids at ALYN walk, talk, and go home to their families. I know what it’s like to be one of those kids. Because their story is my story”

Adina Elbaz was 16 years old when she was involved in a horrific accident. She was crossing the street on her way to school when a minibus hit her. She suffered a severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and multiple injuries and traumas.

After her life was stabilized at another hospital, she was brought to ALYN for rehabilitation. She was unable to walk, talk, or do any activities independently. In the beginning of her treatment, she lived at ALYN 24 hours/day, 7 days a week.

Her mother was with her every morning, her father every evening, and family friends around the clock so that she was never alone. ALYN provided her with hydrotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, psychological treatment, and a range of other therapies. A team of around ten doctors, therapists, and specialists worked with her every day.

Gradually she was able to go home for a few days every week. Then after 7 months, she was able to go home and continued treatment as an ALYN outpatient. Under the care of ALYN, her progress was dramatic and exceeded all expectations. Seven years ago, she rode a tricycle at the finish line of Wheels of Love to welcome the hundreds of riders who had ridden all week in support of ALYN.

Six years ago, she rode a portion of one day of the ride as a member of the “Swift and the Bold” a team of riders made up of kids who have received treatment at ALYN. The next year, she rode a full day on a tandem bike with veteran ALYN rider Rocky Brody. Every year, she has ridden more. For the past few years, she has been training on her own mountain bike, riding more and more on her own -something that would have been unthinkable just a short time ago.

This article is a summary translation to English by ALYN Hospital staff of extracts of the original article, which was written by Dana Ben Shimon. Photo credit: Yoav Dodkevich.  

“It was a rainy and stormy evening, Yusef fell down an elevator shaft in the dark, like in a movie,” recalls his father, Kazem. “A neighbor said that there was a child from the Jardat family who fell in a lift,” says the father. “I went down quickly and realised that it was Yusef.

The doctors told me that they couldn’t believe that he was alive after what happened.” Yusef was taken by ambulance to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, with a large fracture that split his face in two. At Hadassah, they performed the unbelievable – they were able to put his skull back together during a complicated operation. He was later transferred to ALYN Hospital for rehabilitation, with his family accompanying him throughout the process.

“When Yusef came to ALYN Hospital, he was not able to get up,” says his father. “Twice a day he underwent physiotherapy. He also received emotional care and a lot of encouragement from the staff. 

Yusef underwent rehabilitation treatment, during which he got back on his feet and began walking again. “We had to teach him how to walk again because he had a very complicated leg fracture. He also had difficulty speaking because of the fracture in his jaw and we helped him with that as well, in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and he was helped to eat independently”, explains Yusef’s accompanying physician in the rehabilitation department of ALYN Hospital. “His head injury was significant, but he was lucky that there was no brain damage. He also had fractures in his skull, and it’s very rare for someone who has experienced such an event to recover relatively quickly.

Recently, as the rehabilitation process progressed and his condition improved, Yusef began to go to the school that was established inside ALYN Hospital and learned Hebrew and English there. 

Of course we’re happy,” says the father. “In recent months I have barely left Yusef’s side, I have been with him all along, and his situation has improved slowly, but now he will be able to return to his family. Lately, he was able to come home on weekends, but now he will finally be able to sleep at home every day. This is the biggest relief.”

This article has been summarized and translated to English by ALYN Hospital staff. The original article, written by Lior El Hai, appeared in Yediot Ahronoth on 13 March 2019. Photo credit: Alex Kolomoisky.

Tomorrow, three years after Aviel Avrahamoff’s leg was nearly amputated due to an accident, he will participate in the Jerusalem 5-K Run. The accident happened in Haifa during a fun day which he spent with his family when he was six years old. A driver who accidentally accelerated instead of braking, slid into a field near the road where Aviel was walking with his family and hit him.

Aviel was seriously injured. He was transferred to Rambam Medical Center and was rushed into the operating room. “The doctor told me that the situation was complicated, and it could be possible that in the middle of the operation he would ask me to sign an agreement to amputate Aviel’s entire leg. It was shocking to me that Aviel could return home with only one leg,” recalls Aviel’s mother, Vered.

Fortunately, the operation was successful. From that point on, Aviel began a long and difficult rehabilitation process at ALYN Hospital, in his home town of Jerusalem, which is a facility designed for rehabilitation especially for children and youth.

In the beginning, Aviel couldn’t even stand on the injured leg and found it difficult to move it. Thanks to the intensive and devoted care of the team, slowly but surely he made progress. He was eventually able to stand on both legs and even joined the running group of hospitalized children.

Nurit Stern, a senior physiotherapist at ALYN Hospital, said: “We are not satisfied with the fact that the children will only learn to walk again, therefore we are instilling in them the value of sport, training and overcoming difficulties.” At the end of the rehabilitation period, Aviel returned home, but continued to train with the running team.

Update: Aviel completed the Jerusalem 5-K last year!