''Friends' convened the district and branch managers for a gathering: "The path to fulfilling the dream"'

August 13, 2019   

Last week, a free love managers' conference was held for the heads of the 'Friends' organization and branch managers from all over the country. The 'Friends' organization has set itself the goal of connecting audiences and increasing free love among the citizens of the State of Israel through assistance, such as starting a car, changing a flat tire, and more, and by creating a quality community of volunteers from all over the country. The heads of the organization, CEO Israel Almasi and his deputy Lazy Stern, along with the directors of the various districts, regions, branches and divisions in the organization, gathered around tables for a rich and luxurious dairy dinner. The 'Friends' organization was founded in 2006 by Rabbi Meir Wiener, who currently serves as the organization's president. Today, the organization has over 16,000 volunteers, and comes to the aid of anyone in need on the road and in their homes - and in general, in any case of non-medical first aid throughout the country 24 hours a day. The organization is managed and pushed forward by the heads of the organization through a hierarchy that does not shame a military organization; there is a division into districts, regions, branches and teams throughout the country. In addition, there are divisions such as the Spokesperson's Division, Media, Technology, Logistics, External and Community Relations, Government Relations, Training and Publicity. Under the various wings there is a division into district, regional departments, and even branches. The organization also has a telephone center that responds to more than 1,500 calls a day. The center is also divided into districts, with a manager for the Jerusalem, Central, North, and South centers. The center has about 400 call center operators (on shifts) who are fully volunteer 24 hours a day. All volunteers and those in positions, including all of them, work fully volunteering and without receiving compensation. The volunteers come from all walks of life in Israel, Jews, Arabs, religious and secular. During the evening, the CEO of Yedidim reviewed the organization's activities and growth over the past year. Elmasi addressed the organization's managers and said that he was proud of all the volunteers in this huge organization. "We have a huge presence throughout the country, the response to citizens is efficient and excellent for citizens, but there is still a long way to go to realize the dream - half a million volunteers!" An open discussion was then held in which the participants raised issues that the managers encounter in their activities with the drivers and calls in the field, and solutions were found for such cases. Later, after the participants had feasted their hearts out, Rabbi Zvi Ezrachi, head of Midrash Noam in Kfar Saba, spoke, captivating the audience with interesting, eye-level thoughts concerning the volunteering and giving lives of each and every one of them. At the end of the evening, each manager was awarded a certificate of appreciation and recognition for their activity, and in addition, a gift in the form of a prestigious, advanced and innovative road camera, a gift from a company that is currently completing the final preparations for a unique project with the Yedidim organization. The camera and its app use artificial intelligence algorithms to automatically identify accidents and dangerous events on the road.