Chana Loecher is planning to cross Lake Kinneret with the Swim4Sadna women’s event for the 6th time on June 5, 2015. Joining her this year in “Team Loecher” will be at least three of her daughters and four of her granddaughters.
Chana just celebrated her 70th birthday with a fundraising walk in aid of Melabev, and she was astonished to find out that she had finished in 3rd place in her age group in the Jerusalem Marathon 10k Run in March.
“I don’t compete in these sporting events for the sport, but only in order to raise funds for good causes. It is also amazingly empowering to find that you can do something that stretches you. It is good to challenge yourself and see that you can overcome your fears and push yourself to achieve great things. I love swimming across the Kinneret because it is swimming without boundaries, and with the support of hundreds of other women”, she explains.
Sadna is an integrative project in Gush Etzion that caters for special education children who fall between the cracks and find no solution for their needs in the special educational system. One of its projects is a vocational program which prepares the older students for independent life and communal living. Swim4Sadna 2015 will raise funds for the development of an educational and therapeutic kitchen as part of the Vocational Training and Employment Program for the young adults of Sadnat Shiluv.
“The Sadna is such a fantastic project – a real necessity. Anyone who has a child or grandchild, neighbor or friend with special needs, knows how important such a facility is for kids with special needs. When my granddaughters meet the girls from the Sadna at the swimming event, they are motivated and inspired to swim harder and raise more money to help them. I tell my daughters – if you can give birth or make Pesach, you can do this too!”
Born in Holland during the 2nd World War, Chana and her family moved to Israel in 1982 and she feels constantly inspired to help others. “In Israel there is this great ruach – a strong sense of purpose to do something for other people. We cannot leave it to others. Everyone can do something to build this wonderful country, whether it is swimming across the Kinneret or sponsoring one of the women who is planning to swim.”
Chana and her fellow-swimmers are looking forward to the annual Swim4Sadna social event at a hotel bordering the Kinneret. “There is always an amazing atmosphere when hundreds of women – young and not so young – come together to enjoy an evening of socializing and entertainment in preparation for the early Friday morning swim. Then in the morning there is a buzz of excitement as we prepare to get into that beautiful lake! We have such a gorgeous country, and Swim4Sadna empowers us to make the most of nature’s beauty and enjoy our health and our strength in order to help others. I call it the power of the mitzvah – what could be better!”
For more information and to register for Swim4Sadna, visit www.swim4sadna.org