Cancer doesn’t stop for missiles: help us provide emergency grants to ensure vulnerable patients can reach life-saving treatment during Operation Roaring Lion.

The Lemonade Fund has launched a targeted emergency relief initiative to support vulnerable Israeli cancer patients navigating the intersection of life-threatening illness and the current war. With public transport curtailed and schools closed, this program provides rapid-response financial grants to cover the sudden, inflated costs of survival in a warzone, ensuring that medical treatment remains accessible despite the national crisis.

Primary goal of this program

To raise NIS 72,000 ($23,500) to fund 60 emergency wartime grants. These one-time payments of NIS 1,200 are delivered directly to vetted patients to remove financial barriers—such as the collapse of infrastructure and the absence of partners on reserve duty—allowing them to focus exclusively on recovery.

Applicants who will benefit

• Isolated Patients: Those without private vehicles now forced to pay for expensive taxis to reach hospitals.
• Families of Reservists: Women managing treatment and households alone while partners are in active service.
• Parents of Young Children: Mothers needing private childcare while schools and daycares remain closed.
• The Elderly & Infirm: Seriously ill patients living alone who need help reaching bomb shelters or accompaniment to medical appointments during active bombardments.

Why is this program so important?

During Operation Roaring Lion, the “normal” challenges of cancer are magnified by a country at a standstill. This program is a vital social safety net that addresses the “double front” these women face: fighting for their lives against disease while surviving the chaos of a warzone. By providing immediate liquidity, the Lemonade Fund ensures that a lack of funds never dictates whether a woman receives her life-saving chemotherapy or reaches a shelter in time.

To Donate: https://www.jgive.com/new/en/ils/donation-targets/165477

 

The post Emergency Wartime Grants (Lion’s Roar) first appeared on Lemonade Fund.

Lemonade Fund staff at the ALL.CAN 2025 Conference. To my right: Elana Alpert. To my left:, COO Yael Levy and Ilana Joseph

I have often said that if government social services were doing their job, we could close the Lemonade Fund. I could retire and learn to play bridge and our staff could find better paying jobs in hi-tech 🙂

I also know that certain societal ills are entrenched, like poverty.  And this will always be a challenge. Not just in Israel but across the globe. And I also know that we can’t fix all that with emergency subsistence grants to women suffering financial hardship after a diagnosis of breast or gynecological cancer. Just like government agencies can’t make entrenched poverty disappear. 

Last week I learned something very powerful and very empowering at the 2nd annual ALL.CAN Conference on “Minding the Inequality Gap”. The conference program was centered on a platform to curate dozens of new ideas to make cancer care better and more accessible. That brought 200+ NGOs and physicians and social workers and policy makers together to brainstorm ideas for new and creative initiatives to close inequality gaps. 

What I learned was that just like certain societal ills are entrenched, like poverty, the desire to do good and creativity  

People whose desire to bring goodness, to see, are just as entrenched here. goodness and to help those in need is deeply entrenched. “Chemla” (lovingkindness) is in their DNA; and in the DNA of the organizations, NGOs, and even the government committees they founded or work in to overcome the inequality gaps in cancer care. 

Creativity and innovation is another thing entrenched deeply in the tapestry that is Israel. This community of innovators proposed a myriad of ideas – real practical ideas – on how to close inequality gaps in oncology care. Each idea was presented in synopsis form and together in small working groups, we brainstormed their feasibility, explored their merits, challenged the obstacles, and of course, argued heatedly (and loudly) over the details! We filled blank canvases with even more ideas that popped up as we evaluated the proposals before we convened to review the results and plan the next steps. 

When you combine entrenched commitment to see and do good, with entrenched creativity and drive, there is no limit to what can be done. No matter how badly we may think a government agency operates, or how cumbersome the bureaucracy has become. 

I am not naive. Far from it. There are many many problems, and many many inequalities in Israeli cancer care. We know this from 15 years of seeing first hand the devastating financial hardship a cancer diagnosis can bring. But we also know that Lemonade Fund grants to these women help. In the supermarket and in the hearts of patients who struggle to hold on to hope. That’s what keeps us going. It’s in our DNA. 

That’s what the ALL.CAN Israel initiative is all about. It’s even in the name! The Lemonade Fund is proud to be part of a community that embraces the idea that we all can do something.  To be part of the solution rather than to wring our hands and complain about how much others are not NOT doing. Together we see good and through that lens, we see possibilities. 

So retirement can wait a bit. It’s a privilege to still be a part of something so wonderful.

The post Being part of the solution is a privilege first appeared on Lemonade Fund.

The post Lemonade Fund Meets with Israel’s First Lady, Michal Herzog first appeared on Lemonade Fund.

Enjoy this enlightening interview with Good People Fund founder Naomi Eisenberger on the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center’s podcast with host Bernie Furshpan.

Thank you Naomi for the shoutout on the Lemonade Fund’s work and The Good People Fund’s continued support.

The post Honorable Mention first appeared on Lemonade Fund.

September is Gynecological Cancer Awareness and with approximately 7,000 women diagnosed with gynecological malignancies and pre-cancerous conditions in Israel every year, this is incredibly important. We are beginning to understand the urgency for financial aid for these patients in our community. 

Our partner social workers report that the financial effects of these malignancies for women – especially young women – is significant. In fact, last month the Lemonade Fund awarded a grant to a minor for the very first time. A 17-year old high school student with ovarian cancer. This young woman’s entire life, and that of her entire family, has been put on hold so her mother can be at her side during the difficult treatments. With the parents unable to work, the financial ramifications have literally brought this family to its knees. We are very grateful to be able to help the family in a way that will alleviate some of their stress.

But the fact is, these diseases are insidious and often diagnosed late. And they are particularly difficult emotionally. Updated screening has led to many cases diagnosed in pre-cancerous stages, and this proves even more that awareness is key. We have more to learn and I can only hope that through diligence, awareness and knowledge, fewer patients will be diagnosed at such a late stage. 

The Lemonade Fund is proud to collaborate with “Habait Shel Bar” in bringing more information about these diseases to Israeli women.

The post Awareness. Diligence. Knowledge. first appeared on Lemonade Fund.

The post Kugel of Kindness first appeared on Lemonade Fund.

I come here once a year to write personally. Not as the Founder and Director of the Lemonade Fund, but as my younger self who went to my yearly routine mammogram in the summer of 2010 only to learn that I likely had breast cancer. The diagnosis was confirmed two days later, on July 20, 2010 (9 Av 5770) That was the day when my life turned upside down.

It’s not easy to think back on that time. It would be easier to let these memories fade away. Thank God, I recovered and am healthy (and as of this year, a grandmother!) I’ve been fortunate to have 15 good years and merit many blessings for which I will always be grateful.

So why revisit that dark place each year? I go there, together with you, for the sake of the people who are newly diagnosed. Let me explain.

Anyone who has had cancer remembers the feelings of utter loneliness and desolation that come with the diagnosis. Cancer is frightening. But even more than that, it is isolating. Even with all of the communal and family support in the world (if one is lucky enough to have it,) the only one who actually is ill is the patient. The surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, etc., happen to just one body only. The patient’s. Treatments are often deforming, debilitating and life-changing. They’re hopefully curative, but the journey is long and there are no guarantees. And it is a solo journey.

I was diagnosed with cancer on the 9th of Av, the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. A day commemorating historical tragedies suddenly seemed to mirror my own. There is a Jewish tradition to hope that this day, the 9th of Av, will one day be transformed into the happiest day of the year. Never a believer in coincidence, I embraced that tradition in my heart, and fast tracked the concept of turning destruction into reconstruction, desolation into consolation by establishing the Lemonade Fund (Israel’s first and only emergency financial relief nonprofit for women with breast and now gynecological cancers.) We are celebrating our 14th anniversary this summer… Fourteen years of giving hope, in the form of financial assistance, to the most vulnerable Israeli cancer patients.

I am incredibly proud that as a community, as a country, we haven’t lost the ability to really SEE and SUPPORT each other, especially during these last two years challenged by war and suffering. Memory produces empathy; in war and in illness. We feel the pain of those who have lost loved ones during this war and we pray for the safe return of all of our hostages. And we deeply feel the pain of the woman in Metula, the Negev and in Tel Aviv who is alone with a new cancer diagnosis. We cannot make her less alone on her journey, but we can help her feel less lonely by showing her that we know how she feels, because we were there once, too.

And that is why I come back here once a year. To remember, to feel deeply and to connect. Thank you for coming back with me each year.

The post 9th of Av 5785 (2025) first appeared on Lemonade Fund.

Thanks to our sister organization and valued partner, Habait Shel Bar, for inviting us to speak at their medical conference for oncology social workers and nurses who work with women facing gynecological malignancies. The event was attended by a few dozen oncology care professionals from Israel’s HMOs and hospitals, as well as medical company representatives.

Lemonade Fund COO Yael Levy addressed the gathering as part of an important session on patient support. The rich program covered important, and diverse topics in gynecological cancers, such as nursing care, new treatment, self-care for caregivers, dealing with treatment side effects and early menopause and career development challenges in the face of a serious illness. 

Thanks to Bar Levy (no relation!), founder and CEO of Habait She Bar for the invitation and continued cooperation to help patients together with a holistic and professional basket of support and services. 

The post Lemonade Fund Addresses Habait Shel Bar 2025 Conference first appeared on Lemonade Fund.

Yael Levy, Lemonade Fund COO & Shari Mendes, Lemonade Fund Founder and Executive Director with the Good People Fund delegation

It was so refreshing to meet with Naomi Eisenberger and Julie Fischer and their team from the Good People Fund on their annual trip to Israel last month. We shared with them our plans to expand reach, our migration to online applications and plans to help even more patients maintain dignity throughout their cancer journey.

Their confidence in our work, and the resilience of all the wonderful NGOs they support, is inspiring. Understandably, all of us in Israel have been bogged down by the heaviness of the ongoing hostage crisis and fears of renewed fighting. Our reflection in their eyes, how we appear as we continue on our mission to affect change and build a better future, shines a light on our resilience that sometimes gets lost.

Thank you to the good people of The Good People Fund for lifting our spirits. Your visit during these hard times helps us keep our vision in sight, and helps us keep faith in our work.

The post Together with Good People  first appeared on Lemonade Fund.

Founder and Executive Director Shari Mendes shares the story of The Israel Lemonade Fund at the @worldemunah Women’s Leadership in Israel conference.

The post Shari Mendes at Emunah Women’s Leadership in Israel Conference first appeared on Lemonade Fund.