6460 Red Shield Summer 2022 REPRO (Page Turner) - Flipbook - Page 3
2 | RedShield | Summer 2022
BUILDING
LIFESAVING
PARTNERSHIPS
AROUND THE
WORLD
Welcome to the
latest edition of
Red Shield. It’s
good to be
back! As you
can see from
our cover story,
the Labour
Party is back in
Israel as Wes Streeting MP becomes the
most senior member of the shadow
government to visit. We’re back with
dedications in Israel too. It really is a
pleasure and a privilege to share these
precious moments with so many of our
donors. In short, we’re back together.
And, when we do things together - we
get more done. We save more lives.
Nowhere is this more pronounced than the
work we are doing with partners in Ukraine
to help deliver emergency medical care
and refugee support in partnership with the
International Red Cross movement (of
which Magen David Adom is Israel’s
representative body). As you will read,
wherever and however MDA in Israel and
Magen David Adom UK can make a
lifesaving difference - we will.
PRESIDENT HERZOG OPENS £90M MARCUS
NATIONAL BLOOD SERVICES CENTRE
On 2 May, Israel’s President, Isaac Herzog,
opened Magen David Adom’s Marcus National
Blood Services Centre. The 48,000 square-metre
facility is the world’s most secure national
blood bank.
Ensuring a life-saving supply of blood in the face
of rapid population growth and in all
emergencies, the Centre can withstand a direct
ballistic missile attack, biological and chemical
weapons, earthquakes, and cyber-terrorism. It
will allow MDA to process double the 300,000
units of blood per year than it can currently
collect and supply.
Shalvata Band performing at the opening
ceremony of the Marcus National Blood
Services Centre in Israel
The state-of-the-art facility, located in the city of
Ramla, has been built over five years at a cost of
£90 million, funded by a three-way partnership
between MDA UK, American Friends of MDA and
the Government of Israel. MDA UK was privileged
to be joined at the opening by a group of
generous supporters in the organisation’s first trip
back to Israel since the start of the pandemic.
The non-combustible steel and concrete building has six stories, three of them underground. With the
vault on the lowest level, the second underground floor houses the Cord Blood Inventory, an R&D
molecular lab and a chemical and biological warfare air-filtration system that enables all staff
throughout the building to continue working and processing blood in the event of a chemical or
biological attack. The first (uppermost) underground floor houses shielded blood bank laboratories,
a transportation centre and secure fleet parking, where all new ambulances will be stored.
To ensure the highest levels of protection and continuity of operations in war scenarios, every critical
system has a secondary system, including two ramps leading into the underground floors, four sets of
elevators and four generators.
This was a theme that was evident when
the Shadow Minister for Health toured our
facilities in the spring. MDA displayed a
fantastic example as to how Israel is
developing medi-tech not just for its own
people but for emergency and health
services across the globe. Whereas once
our role here in the UK was ‘just’ to raise
money for our colleagues in Israel, now it is
ALSO to help showcase what they have to
offer to the rest of the world.
Photo: Jonathan Straight
The Centre was built to replace the old facility in Tel Hashomer, which
dates back to the 1980s and was no longer sufficient for the demands of
Israel’s growing population. It is named in honour of Bernie Marcus, the
founder of American home improvement chain Home Depot, and his
wife Billi.
Speaking at the dedication ceremony, President Herzog said, “Here, in
this important, precious blood bank, we feel the essence of human
co-dependence. It teaches us that we are brothers and sisters, even if
we argue and disagree — but blood donations must be above any
disagreement.”
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz also commended the centre,
“During the operations and wars over the years, MDA has had to stop
processing blood and move the country’s blood services into bomb
shelters. This actually interrupted blood production when it was most
urgent for both civilians and soldiers alike.”
MDA UK Chairman Russell Jacobs and his wife Irina watch the opening
ceremony with H.E. Kyle O’Sullivan, Irish Ambassador to Israel
MULTIFAITH MEZUZOT
Magen David Adom UK would like to thank all those who generously funded
rooms and areas in the newly opened Marcus National Blood Services Centre, as
well as those who contributed to the Mezuzah Project. Through this initiative, MDA
UK supporters donated over 80 mezuzot, each of which was designed especially
for the Centre by students from Bezalel art college in Jerusalem and subsequently
affixed to a door frame within the building.
One Mezuzah in the entrance of the building was sponsored by Christian Friends of
Magen David Adom, while another was designed by Mohmad Saadi, an IsraeliArab art student - a true reminder of the diversity of those involved across Magen
David Adom.
A mezuzah was dedicated in honour of the Redeemed
Christian Church of God by Pastor Dele Oluwu and Pastor
Comfort Oluwu.Photo: Jonathan Straight
MDA UK is grateful to everyone who took part in the project and whose generosity
is now commemorated in one of Israel’s landmark constructions. There are still
opportunities to be part of this amazing project and to sponsor a mezuzah in the
Blood Centre from £75 per month. Please visit mdauk.org/mezuzah for
more information.
With your support we are making a
difference and, most importantly,
saving more lives.
Daniel Burger
Chief Executive
MDA’s Director of Blood Services,
Professor Eilat Shinar
| SAVE MORE LIVES IN ISRAEL TODAY CALL 020 8201 5900 OR VISIT WWW.MDAUK.OR G/DONATE |
Reverend Mark Madeley, President of CFMDA,
next to the mezuzah they donated
Art student Mohmad with the mezuzah he designed.
Photo: Jonathan Straight
| SAVE MORE LIVES IN ISRAEL TODAY CALL 020 8201 5900 OR VISIT WWW.MDAUK.OR G/DONATE |