What began as a simple request for socks from a Beverly Hills-born Israeli military member turned into several care packages sent to residents and Israeli service members in Gaza.
Meir Dunner, a 21-year-old sergeant of the Israeli military, called his father in Beverly Hills to request socks, according to Rabbi Pini Dunner of the Beverly Hills Synagogue. That one inquiry turned into a humanitarian effort to help those on the front lines.
“He said, ‘It’s cold at night, we need thick socks. We have these big boots and we need thick socks since it gets cold at night,’” Rabbi Dunner said.
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After sharing the request with his community, the rabbi got an impressive response from locals who wanted to pitch in and help those impacted by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“It started with one or two … fifty boxes,” Rabbi Dunner said.
It wasn’t just socks that were sent by LA residents. The boxes contained care packages that included protein bars and other military supplies. In addition to helping the Israeli military, community members included basic necessities like toothpaste and diapers for displaced families.
In an impressive amount of time, the supplies made their way to where they needed to be thanks to the generosity of donors.
“Somebody said, ‘We will donate a cargo plane.’ And this weekend, we sent a cargo plane.” Rabbi Dunner said. “A humanitarian project that started with my son saying he was cold at night, go figure.”
The war between Israel and Hamas is ongoing following Hamas militants’ assault on Israel on Oct. 7. The Palestinian death toll has surpassed 2,700 as Israel bombards Gaza in retaliation for the attack by Hamas that killed 1,400 Israelis.
