“Sheba inspires us to do better, to repair the world in our own small way. To treat others in the way we want to be treated. I can’t set up a field hospital, but I can do one little thing that will make one person’s life a little bit better- and that’s how we repair the world.”

Giving back isn’t always a solo effort – sometimes, families band together in order to make a difference. We are eternally grateful that one such family chose Sheba Medical Center as the recipient of their generosity.

We sat down with Lynda Nadolny, her husband Bruce Cowley, her sister Elen Churney, and Elen’s daughter Carolyn Ross to find out what giving to Sheba means to them.

Lynda and Bruce were introduced to Sheba two years ago through a mutual friend in Ottawa. Last November, they decided to spend four days in Israel, and that the trip will include a visit to Sheba Medical Center.

After spending a day at Sheba, “We walked away completely blown away,” says Lynda.

Following their visit, the family wanted to bring people from Ottawa to see what Sheba does and to understand why collaboration between it and Ottawa Hospital, which they also support, is so important.

Even though they live across the world from Israel, in Bruce’s mind, the message of Sheba is vital. He was impressed with its global impact and commented that it could inspire people from all over the world to come and show their support.

In particular, Lynda was “amazed” by Sheba’s approach to coexistence and how it treats people of all races and nationalities, regardless if they’re Arabs, Jews, or Christians. She firmly believes that this can open people’s minds to what Israel really is. While important in and of itself, Bruce pointed out that it isn’t the driving force behind what Sheba does, but rather Tikkun Olam.

One thing Lynda was exceptionally moved by was Sheba’s efforts in Ukraine, which included establishing a field hospital and leaving some of its equipment behind to help Ukrainian clinicians save lives.

“I’ll take that message home. It’s truly inspiring and moving.” On his part, Bruce added: “Looking after our fellow human beings is a fundamental responsibility that I think we all have. It is this responsibility that drove Sheba to send a medical team to Ukraine and Peru and send a disaster response team to Haiti after an earthquake. We are our brothers’ keepers. We look after each other, and I’m inspired by the fact that Israelis do that better than anybody else. It makes us all proud and motivates us to play a role in this endeavor.”

We want to thank Lynda, Bruce, Elen, and Carolyn for supporting Sheba!