December 5, 2010
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Museums, parks, hotels welcome evacuees free of charge; Jewish Agency plans activities, psychological help for children.
Organizations around Israel have opened their doors to victims of the Carmel fire.
All of Israel's national parks were open for free to Carmel evacuees, as was the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens. In addition, the Madatech science museum, as well as the museums in Tel Hai and Tefen were open for free. In Jerusalem, the Bible Lands Museum was open to Carmel residents, as was Mini Israel.
A number of hotels offered discounted or free rooms and suites to victims of the Carmel fire.
The Jewish Agency held educational activities for children from the Carmel in Kibbutz Maagan Michael. The children learned how to bake pitas, and were counseled by psychologists in order to help them overcome the trauma. Pscyhologists also held workshops on expressing feelings.
The Jewish Agency has also organized a free trip to the Luna Park amusement park in Tel Aviv on Monday.
Bank HaPoalim gave out candy and care packages to children and firefighters in the Tirat HaCarmel and Usfiya on Sunday. The packages for those fighting the blazes included toiletries, t-shirts, towels, socks and energy bars. The bank also offered credit of up to 30,000 NIS without credit for victims of the fire, as well as the option to postpone mortgage payments.
Google also made an effort to help; a search for "fire victims" in Hebrew brought up a list of emergency phone numbers for hospitals and firefighters in the Carmel area, as well as the Welfare Ministry's emergency hot-line.