Ilai, our healthy, happy and beautiful son, is a gift which we received after years of praying to God. And this is how it all started... For a long time, despite all the difficult fertility treatments, we were unable to reach our long awaited goal – to have a child. First, we thought of adoption… Then I thought to myself, “Instead of one child, I can help and, in a way, have, a large number of children.”
We started to get acquainted with hospitals and various organizations that helped children with special needs, handicaps, illnesses and orphans. Children who need love and support and much more... One by one, we got to know the children personally and we touched each others souls. We supported and helped them with their daily needs and we even included and recruited friends for this positive goal. The children’s happiness... opened the gates of heaven for us, and we were suddenly informed, on one of our trips in the USA, that Yael, my dear wife, was pregnant without any treatments or medicine.It was a message from God, with a gift from heaven, for helping wonderful children who needed us. God, the almighty, rewarded us in his special way for our deeds. We returned to Israel our hearts filled with happiness and a belly filled with a baby. Our son, Ilai was born to us in the Holy City of Jerusalem.
I turned to God, elated with happiness and supreme joy, and thanked him for his gift. I told him, “We will continue our holy mission that we started with these amazing children. God, help us support more and more children in need.”And very soon, one by one, the number of our loving children increased. Unfortunately, each one comes with a history of difficult stories. When my son, Ilai, turned one year old, we, together with friends, founded a nonprofit organization and called it The ILAI Fund. Why was it named after "ILAI"?
- To thank God for our healthy and beautiful son, ILAI.
- I made a commitment to love and care for every child like I do for my own.
That is how we intend on thanking God for ILAI. That is why all our children are called "ILAI Children". Today, several hospitals such as Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, are familiar with us and through them we meet a new child almost every day.All this is done with the help of very dear blessed angels, our generous donors, without whose support we would ever have accomplished so much.
Since then…
We have been privileged to be introduced to more and more children with all different types of disabilities.
Today, at the age of 12, Ilai Shaltiel is very involved with the foundation. He not only knows each child personally, he is also in touch with the ILAI Children like they are his own brothers and sisters. He has traveled with excitement to meet them at their homes and at the hospitals. As a very young boy he wanted to play with them and he visited the sick children in their home as a mission.
Now, in 2018, we have proudly helped over 700 children with special needs. We have made a very strong connection with them both personally and emotionally. These 700 ILAI Children are “Our Heroes”.
As a reward, the gates of Heaven were once again opened for the Shaltiel family and the little Ilai. God sent us a pretty angel- Ilai now received a baby sister! Malakhi. She has now come to help us with the rest of the holy work. A true new activist :)
Malakhi has come to join us, along with Donating Angels and supporters around the world whom believe in this special cause, are the pillars upon which the organization stands. They are, in fact, the pillars holding up the world, as is stated in the Torah: "The world is built by acts of kindness.”
To be continued...
Albert Elay Shaltiel
