An emotional event was held Tuesday night in Fort Lauderdale, honoring the children of fallen Israeli Defense Force soldiers.
22 orphaned teens from Israel were recently sponsored by multiple organizations to travel to the United States and arrived in South Florida Monday night.
Organizers say all the teens have lost a parent or parents in the midst of the Israel-Hamas war.
Some of the teens shared stories at the Las Olas Chabad Community Jewish Center in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, describing the difficulties they’ve faced and how they plan to honor the legacies of their fallen parents.
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Israel Heart2Heart, a Fort Lauderdale-based organization dedicated to helping IDF soldiers with PTSD, is one of the groups behind this special visit.
“We are celebrating them being here. They’ve lost a parent or parents. We can’t replace that and we can’t take away their grief, but we can celebrate them and let them know that they are not alone,” said Sarah Schain, a spokeswoman for Israel Heart2Heart.
The teens have traveled from New York and Washington, D.C., to South Florida, sharing their experiences and finding solidarity.
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They spent a fun-packed afternoon at Xtreme Action Park in Fort Lauderdale, where owner David Goldfarb expressed his support.
“So this organization is going through a lot of trauma as you know after October 7 I was also there and Israel and I wanted to try to help while I’m here in South Florida as well,” Goldfarb said.
Schain explained that while Israel Heart2Heart’s main mission is to assist IDF soldiers who are struggling with PTSD, the organization felt compelled to help this group of teens as well.
“When we’re talking about trauma, we’re talking about compulsive triggers and reactions to things around you. Plus, you’ve got memories and feelings and the loss of a parent when you see other kids who have parents. So these kids have been through so much. They’ve lost their parents. [Their parents are] fallen soldiers, and they are so resilient and so grateful to our community, and I’m just so proud to host them,” Schain added.
