Volunteers found it impossible to serve the public in the early August heat.
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICHceiling fans 88 (photo credit: )
Due to a stolen air conditioner, Yad Sarah's branch in Kiryat Ata, near Haifa, has had to be closed, as volunteers found it impossible to serve the public there.
The air conditioner was stolen in the middle of the night earlier this week. When the volunteer staff came to work to lend out medical equipment and provide other services, they found the heat unbearable and felt unwell. "We had no choice but to close the branch," said Hanna Shahar, the office director.
The first staffer to arrive turned on the air conditioner and found it "didn't work." No one knew of any breakdown, so he decided to call a technician, but when he went outside, he found the iron bars were broken and the device was gone. He immediately understood it had been stolen.
The Yad Sarah branch, one of more than 100 around the country, is located in a public shelter on Rehov Weizmann. The voluntary organization invested donors' money to renovate it and to buy the air conditioner. "I am sure the thief knew it was a Yad Sarah branch. How could he not be ashamed to steal from a facility that helps the public," Shahar said with bitterness.
Until Yad Sarah can buy another air conditioner, residents have to go all the way to Kiryat Motzkin to borrow medical equipment. Without a donation specifically to purchase one, Yad Sarah management will be forced to use donor funds for that purpose instead of buying more medical equipment for lending out.
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store
