This month, Chariot is waiving all fees to facilitate emergency DAF donations to these vetted charities meeting the urgent needs of the humanitarian crisis in Israel.
On Saturday October 7, 2023, millions of people in Israel - and their friends and families around the world - woke up to the sights and sounds of unspeakable violence across much of the country. The casualty numbers are climbing into the thousands and, as the conflict continues unfolding, one thing is certain - millions of people need our help.
Aaron, Chariot’s Co-founder and COO, was leaving synagogue services on Saturday in New York City when he first heard the news. “Like many Jewish people, I had been observing Shabbat and wasn’t checking my phone, but started to slowly hear from folks about the news,” recalls Aaron. “The news quickly became more than typical headlines and soundbites about violence in Israel that we’ve all sadly gotten used to - I couldn’t stop watching the horrific images and videos coming out and thinking about all the families that would be devastated by loss.”
Aaron’s sister recently moved to Israel with her 4 children and he’s been in regular communication with them and other family members throughout the country the past few days. “My 91 year-old grandmother has been running in and out of a bomb shelter the past two days, under constant threat of additional attacks, afraid for her life,” Aaron shared. “It’s hard to explain just how deeply these attacks cut into Israeli society. Everyone in the country personally knows someone that has been killed, injured, taken hostage or remains missing. The relative scale of this loss is hard for us to even comprehend in the US.”
This is exactly the kind of situation Donor-Advised Funds should be heavily deployed for
For Aaron and the whole team at Chariot, their first instinct was to think about what they could to help. Everyone is only just beginning to understand the humanitarian impact of these attacks, but it’s clear that thousands of people will be in need of medical care, housing, food and all the basic needs communities face when their country is at war.
This is exactly the kind of situation Donor-Advised Funds should be heavily deployed for. $234 billion has already been set aside for future charitable needs in DAF accounts and this is a critical time to ensure as much of that funding as possible is deployed to address human suffering in Israel.
Chariot has vetted a list of eight 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations addressing the most pressing needs of the Israeli people and enabled their technology to streamline DAF donations to these groups, completely free of charge. If you have a DAF, we encourage you to join in supporting one or several of these organizations in this time of incredible need.
Aaron chose to support some organizations closest to his heart with his own Donor Advised Fund. “I wanted to get support to the American Friends of Magen David Adom as fast as possible. They are specifically focused on the emergency medical needs of the crisis which are overwhelming the healthcare system in the country right now. I first and foremost want people’s urgent health needs addressed to prevent any further loss of life we can.”
Aaron also was also quick to support the Friends of the IDF because of the work they do to care for the families of people enlisted in the Israeli military and their efforts to recover Israeli hostages still held by terrorists.
“Two of my cousins were called up to serve in the Army on Saturday and my heart goes out to the thousands of families in Israel that will be left worrying about their loved ones on the front lines, left financially vulnerable and left in dire need of a strong community to get through this together.”
Learn more about the organizations meeting the biggest needs in Israel and please do what you can to support them. If you’re using a Donor-Advised Fund, Chariot has enabled 3-click DAF giving for all 8 of these vetted organizations, so it’s never been easier to deploy those critical funds as fast as possible.
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