Relief from Israel arrives in Little Rock

An El Al cargo plane with supplies for the relief effort landed at Jacksonville Air Force Base in Arkansas at 6:30 p.m. yesterday. Representatives of the Little Rock Jewish community met the plane.

“We saw the plane land,” said Lynn Greenberg, administrator of the Jewish Federation of Arkansas, “and then we saw them open the doors and watched the crew come off. They invited us on to see the contents and it was jammed with stuff. We got to talk to members of the crew who were grinning from ear to ear.

“For me, it was overwhelming. I felt really good; really, really proud. It was a very warm feeling. It felt like mishpacha [family]. And I must say the EL AL plane dwarfed the others on the tarmac.”

The plane was loaded with equipment, baby food and products. A truck from Dallas, loaded with baby wipes, met the plane. The wipes were made in Israel for Paper Partners, whose CEO is a board member of the Jewish National Fund. The wipes were already in the U.S. but were diverted for this effort.

The plane was ready to go just hours after Katrina hit, but was held back because of the evacuation effort.

JNF arranged for the assistance with Osem Food Products and Remedia, a baby food company in Israel. JNF donors helped defray the cost of the flight and supplies.