Patty Vallance (Courtesy Mike McKendrick)
The Southern Arizona Jewish community lost one of its most energetic and beloved volunteers when Patty Vallance, 62, died June 3, 2020. “We lost a one-of-a-kind force for good,” Stuart Mellan, former president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, wrote on Facebook. “She wore her Jewish… Read more »
Esther Sherberg is the only civilian to be honored with transport toward her final resting place in The Last Alarm Foundation fire truck.
Esther Sherberg, a longtime Tucson resident and Jewish community volunteer, died Jan. 9, 2020, at the age of 86. Services were held Jan. 10 at Evergreen Mortuary, with Rabbi Robert Eisen of Congregation Anshei Israel officiating. Interment was in St. Louis, Missouri. Ms. Sherberg was born Oct. 1, 1933… Read more »
Members of the November 2018 Firefighters Without Borders mission pose with soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces 118th Division Tank Battalion in the Golan Heights, (L-R): Eliot Anderson, Scott Peru, Ted Geare, K. Paul Maxwell, Kris Blume, Steve Lunde. (Courtesy Firefighters Beyond Borders)
Tucson Firefighters Beyond Borders completed its third mission to Israel last month under an unexpected hail of missiles. That only added a new dimension to the multi-faceted, cross-cultural and cross-technology educational exchanges that began in 2013, according to the six participants. The delegation left Tucson on Nov. 6, spending… Read more »
An Israeli firefighter views a wildfire that broke out near Jerusalem, Nov. 25, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Six firefighters from Tucson will head to Israel next month to share their expertise in handling wildland fires. Since spring, incendiary kites and balloons launched from Gaza have burned thousands of acres of Israeli land. The trip is part of the Greater Tucson Fire Foundation’s Firefighters Beyond Borders program.… Read more »
Jay Korza, right, with an Israel Defense Forces paramedic in Nir Am, Israel, in June 2017.
Israel’s intelligence community told a cohort of volunteer first responders that it is most concerned about a new war with Syria, says Jay Korza, a sergeant with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. If that threat materializes, Korza will be there to help. Korza traveled to Israel this summer to… Read more »
(L-R) Patty Vallance, Jennifer Cassius and Anita Feder (Courtesy Family Friends, LLC)
Jennifer Cassius, Anita Feder and Patty Vallance recently formed Family Friends, LLC, an estate sales company. Family Friends aims to help families with the distribution and disposition of personal property, whether due to downsizing, a transition to alternative living arrangements or the loss of a loved one, “with an… Read more »
Nogales firefighter Marcela Donovan Hammond and
Israeli Consul General Sam Grundwerg at the Tucson
Jewish Community Center on Jan. 8. (Marty Johnston)
At a ceremony on Jan. 8 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center honoring local firefighters who helped battle fires in Israel in November, Sam Grundwerg, consul general of Israel to the Southwest United States, commended the volunteers on being their “brother’s keeper,” comparing them to Judah, who, according to… Read more »
The Greater Tucson Fire Foundation will host an information session about the Emergency Volunteer Project, an opportunity for professional volunteer opportunities in Israel, on Sunday, June 26, from 2-4 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The project’s mission is to recruit, train and deploy dedicated individuals who will… Read more »
Stuart Mellan Seventy years! My how the world has changed! While we are always trying to keep up with these changes, we remain very much rooted in our values and our mission. Underlying our Federation’s work is the adage that “community doesn’t just happen, it has to be created,” which begs… Read more »
Chief Les Caid of Rio Rico Fire District, in blue shirt, with Israelis, from left, Guy Caspi, Magen David Adom; Brig. Gen. Shmulik Friedman, Israel Fire and Rescue Authority; Lt. Col. Ariel Blitz, Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command; Maj. Sivan Inbar, Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command. Not pictured: Avi Borger, National Emergency Management Authority
(Firefighters Beyond Borders Facebook page)
“When we train for mass casualty incidents, we know that the blood isn’t real and when the training is over, everyone is going to stand up and walk away. How does Israel deal with real mass casualty incidents that can happen every day?” That question by Tucson Fire Department… Read more »
The Weintraub Israel Center and the Greater Tucson Fire Foundation will present “Israeli Response and Readiness —Terrorism and Natural Disasters,” a meet and greet and Q&A with the senior officials who develop and implement Israel’s emergency preparedness, response and recovery services, on Monday, Oct. 19, from 5:30-7 p.m. at… Read more »
Eyal Fruchter
What’s the best question to ask a person after a traumatic event? Hint: It’s not, “How do you feel?” Instead, ask “What do you want to do?” or “How did you react?” says Eyal Fruchter, M.D., former head of psychiatry for the Israel Defense Forces. Recounting feelings may get… Read more »
Eyal Fruchter Eyal Fruchter, M.D., a retired Israel Defense Forces colonel who served as a military doctor, flight surgeon and military psychiatrist, will lead the keynote session of a conference on “Cause and Effect of Post-Traumatic Stress” on Thursday, May 14 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, presented by the Greater… Read more »
Patty Vallance Patty Vallance started volunteering when she had young children and lived in the small town of Placerville, Calif., from 1986 to 2000. “I have an obligation to my children, my family, to my community,” she told the AJP. “I wanted to raise my kids Jewish and connect them to… Read more »
(L-R) Capt. Kyle Canty, Northwest Fire Department; Capt. Richard Johnson, Tucson Fire Department; Division Chief Kelly McCoy, Northwest Fire Department; Capt. Mark Lytle, Green Valley Fire District; Capt. Scott Laird, Rincon Valley Fire District; Tzvia and Emil Riven (in front of Laird); Lt. Thomas Tucker, Tucson Airport Authority Fire Department; and Capt. Kris Blum, Tuscon Fire Department, plant a tree on Mount Carmel to honor the Rivens’ son, Elad, who died in 2010 fighting Israel’s worst forest fire. (Courtesy Greater Tucson Fire Foundation) “We went as seven firefighters and came back as seven ambassadors for Israel,” says Capt. Scott Laird of the Rincon Valley Fire District, who spent Oct. 15-25 in Israel as part of Southern Arizona’s first Firefighters Without Borders delegation. The group sought to learn, firsthand, about how Israel’s… Read more »
(L-R) Stuart Mellan, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona; Capt. Mark Lytle, Green Valley Fire District; Capt. Rich Johnson, Tucson Fire Department; Lt. Thomas Tucker, Tucson Airport Fire District; Mike McKendrick, chairman, Greater Tucson Fire Foundation; Capt. Kyle Canty, Northwest Fire District; and Battalion Chief Kelly McCoy, Northwest Fire District, outside the JFSA office (Phyllis Braun/AJP) The Greater Tucson Fire Foundation has announced Firefighters Without Borders, a two-week mission that will send local Arizona firefighters to Israel in October to learn from their Israeli counterparts. The firefighters will travel as private citizens, but their resumes reflect expertise with nearly a dozen local fire departments and… Read more »
