In 1997, a young woman’s fiancée, while serving in the Israel Defense Force, was killed, 4 months before they were to be married. Her mother and her sister found a way to help her cope and rebuild her life by forming the Organization to Support the Fiancées of Fallen Soldiers of the Israel Defense Force. At that time, “Group 1,” a group of 10 fiancées whose loved ones were killed in action, began to meet for two hours per week with a professional therapist. The group counseling lasts for one year.
Since 2003, HOT has provided the funding for 5 such groups, the last two with designated funds by one of our donors. Group 20 was formed to take care of the “same as widows” of ten soldiers who died in training accidents, auto accidents or sadly, by committing suicide. Group 21 was recently formed and includes 8 “same as widows” whose “not quite yet spouses” were penitentiary guards in the bus that caught fire as they went up Mt. Carmel to evacuate prisoners during the devastating 2010 fire. One of our generous donors committed to paying for Group 21.
We would like our donors to designate $8,400 in multiples of $600 (10 sessions @ $60 per session) to pay for private therapy for 14 of the fiancées of earlier groups that are still having problems.