Dear Beautiful Angels,
I wanted to send you a personal update from myself and our team.
I have been wanting to do this for some time but was looking for a writer to help create these newsletter updates. Instead, while lying awake last night, I decided that I just wanted to speak to you all in my own way, raw and authentic, just like I always do.
So, for those that I haven't personally spoken to yet, let me introduce myself a little. I’m Tasha Cohen. I made Aliyah from London a little over 12 years ago, after having been in Jerusalem previously and experiencing a cliché movie lightbulb moment, where I just knew I was supposed to spend my life here. I won’t repeat the whole story of why I created Chayal’s Angels, but should you want to take a look, there is a beautiful interview recorded a few months back on the home page, as well as more on the press page of our website www.chayalsangels.org. Additionally, there are some more videos joining in the next few days.
Speaking of our website, we have recently updated it and are quite proud of it - we really hope you all enjoy it. We are constantly working to add more for you all. Via the website, there are also links to our socials, as well as our YouTube page, which has a mix of content; most of it is aimed at the soldiers themselves. We have recorded follow-along exercises for them to help their own bodies when we are not around. Please feel free to use these too and share them with any soldiers you'd like.
We recently took a month off base days as we were all truly burning out, but I am personally very excited to get back to them this week. I have spent a great deal of time speaking with many soldiers over the last few weeks and getting a picture of what our summer may be like, and I can assure you, we at Chayal’s Angels will be busy!
Using this break from driving around the country meant that myself and the team of incredible volunteers behind me have been working very hard on the back-end stuff. As well as having finalized one-pagers, fundraising proposals, and videos about what we do, we have been working very hard to secure a way to provide tax-free receipts for your donations in as many countries as possible, and I am now extremely proud to say we can accept and provide these for over 30 countries! Link on our website!
If you would like any of this information to share around, please reply to our fundraising team at fundraisingchayalsangels@gmail.com, and they will happily share it with you. Alternatively, if you have contacts for us to connect with different communities around the world, we would love to be connected.
Over the first 6 months or so of our existence, we managed to give out 6,000 individual treatments and countless more yoga sessions to our soldiers across the border, and I can personally tell you that not only does every volunteer feel so fulfilled being able to support Israel, our soldiers are feeling the love big time. I keep getting messages asking if we are still going and if we can come to their units, and my answer is always the same - WE ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE. I personally see our path for the next ten years or so.
I could go on and on with our achievements and what the future might look like for us at Chayal’s Angels, but I don't want to keep you too long. Instead, I'll finish with a truly heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you. After October 7th, the road was my way of coping. I had no idea how long it was going to last or what tomorrow may have looked like, and just a couple of weeks in, I saw this need that I knew I could fulfill, but I truly never imagined it would turn into this. Without EVERY single person's support, whether it be as a volunteer, donor, supporter, etc., this could never have grown into what it is - a fully-fledged nonprofit.
This is truly the proudest thing I have ever done, and I hope to provide the soldiers with support, many of our volunteers with a career (one day when we get to that stage), and make you all proud for many years to come. I have led small businesses to success in the past, but this one has my heart and soul more than anything.
Just a reminder - the reason I chose the tagline “We Are One” is because (if you have met me you will know) I say it all day long and believe it with every part of my being. I'm on a mission to flood my social media page with more unity and would love you all to join in this and use the hashtag #lessfightingmoreuniting. On the subject, if you’re on Facebook or Instagram - we'd love a follow!
I promise to be in touch soon with more updates.
Much Love and Gratitude,
Tasha Cohen,
Founder & CEO of Chayal's Angels
WE ARE ONE
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