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The Dream Raffle, organized by the Am Yisrael Chai Foundation, has found a way for everyone to make an impact in Israel. By simply buying a raffle ticket, you can donate Torahs to IDF bases, plant fruit trees, and help families in need. Each ticket also gives you a chance to win a $1,000,000 apartment in the heart of Jerusalem.
Shmuel Sackett, the founder of the Am Yisrael Chai Foundation, joined ILTV in the studio on Monday.
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DREAM RAFFLE
ILTV: What motivated you to dedicate your life to helping others? Why did you start the Am Yisrael Chai Foundation?
Sackett: So, I made Aliyah in 1990, and my whole ideology was not just to come here and live, but to get ‘MAD.’ MAD stands for ‘Make a Difference.’ I wanted to come here. I wanted to fight for the land. My son and son-in-law are fighting in Gaza as we speak. And I was looking to make a difference, to become an activist, and to help wherever I could.
And that's exactly what Am Yisrael Chai Foundation does now with this Dream Raffle.
ILTV: Every ticket purchased secures one verse in a Torah scroll that will be donated to an IDF army base. Why is this particular cause important to the Am Yisrael Chai Foundation?
Sackett: I'm coming from the religious Zionist world, and this is something where we see both. We see the need to learn the Torah, and we see the need to fight for the land. And what symbolizes that better than a Torah scroll on an IDF base?
So far, we've donated five of them, and we're donating a sixth this year on Pesach. In just a few months, we’re going to be donating a Torah scroll to a base on the Golan Heights.
ILTV: Now, the Am Yisrael Chai Foundation has a lot of different community projects. You guys are supporting a lot of communities, from soldiers to families in need. How are all of these missions in the community funded?
Sackett: It’s funded one way, and that's through the Dream Raffle. I don't fundraise all year long. We have one fundraiser only, and that is the Dream Raffle.
ILTV: How did the idea for the Dream Raffle come about, and what do you hope to achieve with it?
Sackett: I'm trying to bring all of Am Yisrael together. I've been fundraising for 30 years, and we usually use the traditional method of speaking to a specific individual—a philanthropist—and convincing him or her to give a generous donation. But I would rather have 1,000 people give $1 than one person give $1,000, and that's what we're doing with the raffle.
We're reaching out to people. So far, we have sold close to 20,000 tickets, and we're trying to get everybody involved—not just in the dream of winning an apartment, but also in the mitzvah of helping across the land of Israel.
ILTV: Now, I wanted to ask you—there are a lot of activities that the Am Yisrael Chai Foundation does. Are there any that are particularly close to your heart beyond, of course, the Dream Raffle?
Sackett: Well, what Am Yisrael Chai Foundation does is build the land, defend the land, and educate the people. We have a fund for widows and orphans. Just today, I helped two different orphans who are getting married in the coming days, trying to ensure they have a proper wedding. One of them just lost a parent in the war.
So what we do is help where others don't—or won't. Every project is close to our heart, and that’s why we reach out to people to get involved. Whether it’s searching for missing Israelis, planting 600,000 fruit trees across the country, or helping lone soldiers, we try to be part of all the important things that our nation needs.