Thoughts on Torah, working, living in Israel and how they go together.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
For the first time since Moshe Rabenu ...
This is how the latest Kupat Hair flyer begins in dramatic fashion. What will they think of next? Who comes up with these ideas? Is this really what gets people to give tzedaka?
Here in Israel I see this kind of thing all the time. When one thinks of it ,millions must be spend annually on advertising flyers like this alone.This along when what it must cost to pay the employees and rent and utilities for offices etc.,must indeed come to a huge sum. I once,quite recently in fact, witnessed a woman I know who was desperatly in need of some help,call one of the numbers on such a flyer,requesting help. The response she recieved on the phone was of a completely bewildered person,not understanding that she indeed NEEDED help and kept telling her all the options that were available for her to DONATE. They gave her others numbers and the same response from all whom she spoke to. This was with more than one organization and in the end..she did not receive a glimmer of hope thru the process,much less any actual help. This made me wonder...why is it exactly? How can it be that everyone in everyone of these huge and widely known,hugely respected organizations,who must obviously receive huge amounts of money in donations,behave as a person who needed the help that they purport to give(please understand that I DO NOT doubt they do help)...were speaking an alien language of some sort. I decided to call these organizations myself to see if I could help her and by so doing I was quite sure that I would know how to advise others who needed help. ...In short I must tell you that I was simply astonished by by what I was about to go through. Hours on the phone for days... Nothing...except for the overwhelming feeling imparted upon me that I was wasting their valuable time. I was even told by one representative that the time that he spent talking to me probably held up an important flow of donations. So I decided to visit a few offices of three major organizations here in Israel. Nobody had a clue as how to deal with someone that was not giving money or delivering pizza. Quite a few felt embarrassed about it. I certainly conducted myself in a courteous and respectful manner mind you...I did NOT "go in" as a investigative reporter demanding answers and the like. Regardless I was asked to leave from one organizations Jerusalem office and was even "escorted" to the street by the "security" there.
As of yet,no help whatsoever for the single mother with two small children that I know from the 3 major organizations that help was sought from.
We should all be quite happy that blood banks do not operate in such a fashion.
3 comments:
Here in Israel I see this kind of thing all the time.
When one thinks of it ,millions must be spend annually on advertising flyers like this alone.This along when what it must cost to pay the employees and rent and utilities for offices etc.,must indeed come to a huge sum.
I once,quite recently in fact, witnessed a woman I know who was desperatly in need of some help,call one of the numbers on such a flyer,requesting help.
The response she recieved on the phone was of a completely bewildered person,not understanding that she indeed NEEDED help and kept telling her all the options that were available for her to DONATE.
They gave her others numbers and the same response from all whom she spoke to.
This was with more than one organization and in the end..she did not receive a glimmer of hope thru the process,much less any actual help.
This made me wonder...why is it exactly?
How can it be that everyone in everyone of these huge and widely known,hugely respected organizations,who must obviously receive huge amounts of money in donations,behave as a person who needed the help that they purport to give(please understand that I DO NOT doubt they do help)...were speaking an alien language of some sort.
I decided to call these organizations myself to see if I could help her and by so doing I was quite sure that I would know how to advise others who needed help.
...In short I must tell you that I was simply astonished by by what I was about to go through.
Hours on the phone for days...
Nothing...except for the overwhelming feeling imparted upon me that I was wasting their valuable time. I was even told by one representative that the time that he spent talking to me probably held up an important flow of donations.
So I decided to visit a few offices of three major organizations here in Israel.
Nobody had a clue as how to deal with someone that was not giving money or delivering pizza.
Quite a few felt embarrassed about it.
I certainly conducted myself in a courteous and respectful manner mind you...I did NOT "go in" as a investigative reporter demanding answers and the like.
Regardless I was asked to leave from one organizations Jerusalem office and was even "escorted" to the street by the "security" there.
As of yet,no help whatsoever for the single mother with two small children that I know from the 3 major organizations that help was sought from.
We should all be quite happy that blood banks do not operate in such a fashion.
Nice! My previous tzedaka only mentioned my name 515 times...
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