Ira Riklis and Important Charities

Some years back, a local child safety organization contacted Ira Riklis seeking his support in providing bicycle safety helmets to children in the area. They presented an eye-opening case. It was no surprise that children ages five through fourteen ride bikes far more often than the rest of us. But it turns out that bicycle-related injuries send more than half-a-million people to emergencies each year. This number includes riders of all ages, but children suffer half-again more in proportion to older riders. Some injuries are little more than scrapes and bruises, others—especially those involving head trauma—are fatal.

It was disturbing news, but there was a bright side to be had as well. Most head injuries could be easily prevented if riders—both young and old—wore properly fitted helmets. Moved by what he learned, Ira Riklis readily consented to donate 5,000 helmets and helped stage a give-away event where families could bring their children to have the helmets properly fitted. The experienced changed Ira’s approach to sports as well, prompting to wear a helmet while participating in his favorite sport: downhill skiing. What about you? Are you protecting your head while involved in bicycling or other active sports?

Many nutritionists consider breakfast the most important meal of the day. It helps fuel your mind and body and gives you a head start on the day. And while many of us skip or scrimp on breakfast as we rush off to work, we still have the option of eating one, or at least of making up for it at lunch. But Ira Riklis knows that the homeless don’t always have those options, even if they do have jobs to go to, or need to boost their energy as they head out to look for jobs.

That’s why Ira Riklis has been volunteering to serve hot breakfasts and sack lunches at the Central Synagogue Caring Committee for the past twelve years. The group provides these meals twice a week, on Thursday and Friday mornings between 5:30 and 8:15. While all are admitted and served without restrictions, they’ve chosen those times with the needs of the working homeless (and those looking for work) in mind. A healthy breakfast and lunch can provide these people with the stamina and support they need to go out and make the best of their day.

Brash, bright and bustling, Tel Aviv is Israel’s major city and hub of the country’s business communities. Set on the shores of the Mediterranean, it features parks and beaches, chic shopping malls, elegant restaurants and fine museums. But if you look beyond the beauty and glitter, as Ira Riklis has, you’ll find there’s another side of Tel Aviv, one where 40 percent of the residents live in poverty.

The Tel Aviv Foundation was formed in 1977 to address the needs of the city’s poor, who often must struggle simply to survive. The Foundation empowers donors such as Ira Riklis and his family to become strategic partners in meeting the evolving needs of the Tel Aviv Community. Their goal is to provide for the needy and to create opportunities for their growth in all areas including education, culture and arts, sports, the environment and social services. To date, the Foundation has raised more than $300 million to support projects designed to better the lives of disadvantaged citizens and to truly make Tel Aviv a bright beacon of hope and progress.

Surely, almost everyone knows that it’s a good thing to donate blood if you’re eligible to do so. So why don’t more people make it a point to do so? Ira Riklis wonders if one reason is that most of us simply aren’t aware of the tremendous need for blood—and blood donors—each and every day of the year. On average, someone needs a blood transfusion every seven seconds. Yet fewer than one in twenty people ever make a donation.

So now that you know those figures, is there something else that might be holding you back? It could be the fear of the unknown or perhaps fear of any pain that might be involved? If that’s the case for you, Ira Riklis can put your fears to rest. The whole procedure is easy, simple and straightforward. And based on his many experiences in donating blood, he can assure everyone that there’s no pain involved!

On his first visit to the Emunah Bet Elazraki Children’s Home, Ira Riklis witnessed the profound sense of family that the home’s director and staff create in the children under their care. That deep connection was eloquently expressed recently in a farewell speech given by a young man who had come from the States to volunteer at the home. “…[M]y beautiful, sweet children. I love you so much. All my life I wanted to have little brothers and sisters. Now I feel that I have 210 little brothers & sisters! It is a blessing to be your friend and now your brother. The most important thing I would like to tell is this: Anywhere I stand, I stand with you – the children of Bet Elazraki.”

All the children at the home, who range from ages four through eighteen, come from families ravaged by violence, drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness or abandonment. For these children, the home offers the love, hope and care that give them a chance to break free of the distress that has put them at risk. Ira Riklis has seen how the professional staff sees to the children’s needs for support, education, guidance and—perhaps most importantly—love.

What are the basic rights of people in need? Many would say that all people have the right to food, water, clothes and some form of shelter. That’s certainly what Ira Riklis believes and it’s a central tenet of Judaism. Viewed from the perspective, what we commonly call “charity” is really a form of restoring justice and fairness. We don’t magnanimously give to others something of ours, we return to them something that was rightfully theirs to begin with.

The Hebrew word for this is Tzedakah, and a passage in Deuteronomy reads: “Tzedek, tzedek you shall pursue.” What that means is “justice, justice you shall pursue.” Tzedakah means doing the right thing for others by the giving of your time and money. Ira Riklis feels grateful that he has been given the means to help others. For him, it’s not only a way to help restore justice, it’s also a way of honoring the blessings that God has given to him and his family.

It’s been a while since Ira Riklis and his wife, Diana, earned their graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, but they still remember the time they spent there with fondness and appreciation. The education they received and the experiences they shared with school faculty and other students has served them well and played a large role in the successes they’ve enjoyed since those days. Now, they feel privileged to be in a position to give back to the school and thus provide a boost to new generations of graduate students.

They’ve directed the major part of their support to the Graduate School of Education where Diana earned her degree. Ira Riklis attended the Wharton School of Business, but Wharton has more than its share of highly successful graduates eager and able to offer their support. The GSE is one of the nation’s premier research education schools. Over the past fifteen years, Ira and Diana have watched the school continue to develop and improve in many areas and are happy to have been able to contribute to that improvement.

Ira Riklis suspects that many people would like to be considered that special “one in a million,” at least at something. But while that may not be possible, just being one in twenty could make you a life-saving hero. That’s because just 5 percent—one in twenty—of us ever get around to donating blood. Sure, people do show up in numbers to donate after emergencies like the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center. But there’s a tremendous daily need for blood that’s sometimes hard to fulfill due to lack of volunteers.

Not everyone can donate; there are stringent—and wise—health regulations that govern donations. But if you are eligible, you could make a real difference in people’s life by making time to donate on a regular basis. Ira Riklis has been doing so for nearly fifteen years now and urges others to do the same. You’re allowed to donate once every eight weeks, but even coming in once or twice a year would help.