A Bomb Shelter for Israeli Children with Disabilities
PLEASE DONATE WHAT YOU CAN
When a missile siren sounds at Chimes Israel’s Or Early Childhood Center in Modi’in, preschool children with disabilities have only 90 seconds to reach safety. The center has no on-site protected space.
The only available shelter is located in a synagogue behind the building. To reach it, staff must take the children approximately 50 meters outside the fenced backyard, down concrete stairs, through a locked gate, and into a locked building. For young children with disabilities, this is not a simple move from one place to another. It is a complex, stressful, and often frightening emergency evacuation.
During emergency drills, it takes between four and a half and five minutes to reach the synagogue shelter. That is more than three times the warning time available. Every drill reinforces the same reality: the children cannot realistically reach safety in time.
When Ninety Seconds Is Not Enough
The Chimes Or Early Childhood Center serves preschool children with disabilities. Many cannot walk independently. Some use walkers, wheelchairs, standing frames, feeding equipment, or other medical and therapeutic supports. Before staff can even begin moving some children, they must safely release them from specialized equipment and prepare them for transport.
Every emergency requires the full mobilization of the center’s staff, including therapists, teaching assistants, the secretary, the maintenance worker, and the cook. Staff members often carry children in their arms. At times, one staff member must carry two children at once because there is no other option.
The challenge becomes even greater during rest and nap times. Staff must wake the children, calm them, and move them safely and orderly toward the shelter. Sometimes staff must carry children while they are still asleep. Under these circumstances, reaching shelter within 90 seconds is simply impossible.
The children’s emotional responses add another layer of difficulty. Some children freeze when asked to leave an activity. Others cry, resist, cling to staff, or refuse to move. Children on the autism spectrum often struggle deeply with sudden changes, noise, urgency, and disruption to routine. Even emergency drills can affect some children for hours afterward.
A Dangerous Journey to Safety
Even if the children could reach the synagogue shelter in time, the shelter itself presents challenges. Located 50 meters from the center, it was not designed for young children with disabilities. Rows of chairs, bookshelves, and other furnishings create safety and supervision concerns. Because it also serves as a public shelter, unfamiliar people may enter during emergencies. For children with communication challenges, autism, or sensory regulation difficulties, the noise, crowding, and unpredictability of the environment can significantly increase anxiety and distress.
Weather also creates serious obstacles. On rainy winter days, the route becomes slippery and dangerous. During extreme summer heat, carrying children and transporting needed equipment becomes physically exhausting. Every staircase, gate, and obstacle along the route adds precious time when every second matters.
The situation places a heavy emotional burden on parents and staff. Parents ask how their children reach the shelter, whether they can get there in time, and what would happen during a real emergency when parents are not present. Staff carry responsibility for every child’s safety while also worrying about their own families.
Building Safety Directly Outside the Classrooms
Chimes Israel seeks support to build a protected shelter directly outside the classroom doors at the Chimes Or Early Childhood Center in Modi’in. The protected space will allow children and staff to reach safety within seconds, without going outside the fenced area, down stairs, through locked gates, or into a distant public shelter.
The shelter will be fully compliant with Israeli Home Front Command requirements and designed for young children with disabilities. It will provide accessible, immediate, life-saving protection for up to 40 preschool children and the professionals who care for them.
Instead of racing against the clock, staff will be able to guide children quickly and calmly into safety. Instead of major disruption, fear, and confusion, the center will be able to preserve routine, reduce anxiety, and help children return to their daily activities as soon as possible.
Protecting Children and Preserving Essential Care
Your Support Matters
Every child deserves to be safe. For preschool children with disabilities, safety must be accessible, immediate, and built around their needs.
Your support will help build a protected space that allows children who cannot run, cannot move quickly, and cannot always understand what is happening to reach safety within seconds. It will protect vulnerable children, support dedicated staff, reassure families, and help preserve essential therapies and care during times of crisis.
Together, we can give the children of Chimes Israel’s Or Early Childhood Center what every child deserves: a safe place when the siren sounds.
PLEASE DONATE WHAT YOU CAN
Every gift brings us closer to protecting our vulnerable children with disabilities in Ashkelon, Israel
Donations via Wire Transfer
Bank Transfer
US 501c3 Bank Transfer Information
To: Chimes International/FBO Israel Wiring Instructions
Bank Name: Truist
120 E Baltimore St., 23rd Floor
Baltimore, MD 21202
Routing Number #: 053101121
Account #: 1090003115685
Account Name: Chimes International Limited/FBO Israel
Please send remittance to: chimesweb@chimes.org
Israel 46A Tax Deduction
Account: Chimes Israel
Israel Amuta #: 58-0188894
Address: 24A Habarzel, Floor 2, Tel Aviv, 6971065 Israel
Bank: Israel Discount Bank, Branch #85, Kikar Yitzhak Rabin, 66 Ibn Gvirol Street, Tel Aviv 6495203 Israel
Account Type: Checking
Swift Routing #: IDBLILITXXX
IBAN #: IL450110850000002349428
Account #: 2349428
Personal Check
US 501c3 Address for Mailing Checks
Chimes International for Chimes Israel
4815 Seton Drive
Baltimore, MD 21215
ATTN: O’Ryan Case
Chimes International, Ltd.
EIN: 52-2000359
