Mission active · day 1,030 since 7 October 2023
100,000 reservists are mobilised and three divisions are on the Lebanese front. Behind them, 82,400 wounded veterans are already in the system, heading for 100,000 by 2028. Our soldiers are still fighting — and still coming home broken. Both jobs are open.
12 CITIES ——✈—— ISRAEL · gifts inbound
01 The turn
What this community built between 2023 and 2025 worked — and it was never going to be the whole job. Here is what changed, and what didn’t.
Commanders sent lists. Dallas bought them, packed them into duffel bags, and volunteers carried them onto planes in their own checked luggage. 150+ bags delivered by hand, plus letters from schoolchildren, meals for units, and visits to soldiers in hospital beds.
That job is done. It was done by ordinary people in one Dallas neighbourhood, and the photographs are the receipt.
The war did not end. Reservists are being called up again for Lebanon and Iran — many of them the same people who were called up in 2023, going back for a third and fourth time.
And the ones who already came home came home wounded, and carrying things you can’t pack. Phase two is funding, not freight: support for soldiers still serving, and direct help for those in recovery — the injured, those living with PTSD, and the families holding it together while they heal.
02 Why now, and not later
Our attention peaked in 2024. The fighting didn’t stop, and on current projections the need peaks around 2028 — which is exactly when the giving usually stops.
With three divisions on the Lebanese front. Many are on their third or fourth call-up since 2023.
Heading for 100,000 by 2028 — roughly 50,000 of those for mental injuries.
Of everyone treated since October 7th — most of the wounded are not visibly wounded.
Mobilisation: Reported August 2026 — Times of Israel, CNN, Anadolu Agency. Rehabilitation: Israel Ministry of Defense Rehabilitation Department, reported 2025–2026 — around 22,000 have entered the system since 7 October 2023, and the Ministry has warned it is at risk of collapse. Reserve duty in 2026 runs to 55 days against 25 days every three years before the war. These are national figures, not Agent Ivan’s — they are why phase two exists. Last verified 2 August 2026.
If we’re tired of giving, they are far more tired of carrying it. We get to decide when we’ve done enough. They don’t.
Why this campaign is still open03 How to help now
Recovery is slow, personal and expensive, and it doesn’t arrive on a schedule. Every route below reaches the same fund.
$18
Chai — the gift this whole operation started on
$36
Double chai — and the most common gift on this campaign
$180
Ten times chai. Given monthly, it is what steadiness looks like.
Any
Every amount reaches the same fund
Processed by The Chesed Fund for Congregation Ohev Shalom, Inc, a 501(c)(3) in Dallas. You get a receipt.
04 Letters
A letter is a morale boost in a tent. In a rehabilitation ward it is something else entirely: evidence that somebody who owes you nothing still remembers your name.
We still need children’s letters and adult letters. Handwritten, in any language, from anyone.
Please send these letters to
Agent IvanFamilies are writing 18 letters a week for four weeks. Schools are challenging each other to 200 letters in a week.
05 Other ways in
Four things that help phase two, none of which need a suitcase.
Worth more in a rehabilitation ward than it ever was in a tent. Handwritten, any language.
Recovery runs for years. A standing gift is worth more than the same amount given once.
Most gifts here name a soldier. Add a dedication and it is read out with the donation.
The letter challenges started in Dallas classrooms. Name the school you’re challenging.
Travelling to Israel, or want to send physical supplies? Those routes are still open — see the options.
06 The record
Every bit of donation addresses critical needs of our Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel! This is what phase one looked like — and why phase two deserves the same community.
07 Who is Agent Ivan
Ivan Sacks is a 66-year-old financial advisor living in Dallas, Texas with my wife and children. After October 7th, 2023, that changed — and it hasn’t changed back.
People started calling him “Agent Ivan”, and the name stuck. The same person who packed the first duffel bag is the one running phase two, from the same address, with the same phone number.
08 Contact
Reach out directly — especially if you’re organising something with a group.
The Chesed Fund takes card donations by phone for campaign 95963.
(518) 323-0376
Phase one proved this community shows up. Phase two is longer, quieter, and needs the same people — for years, not weeks.
