Sarah Drill of Merage Israel Visits Denver

The Merage Foundations were lucky enough to have a special visitor the end of March. Sarah Drill, Resource Development Manager for the Wings Program which is supported by Merage Israel, was able to stop in Denver for a couple days.

The Wings program works with immigrant ‘lone soldiers’ who join the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in an effort to support them as they embrace Israeli society. Immigrant lone soldiers are individuals who come to Israel to serve in the IDF, but have no family or friends in the country. These individuals come from all over the world seeking to live in Israel. The Wings program support comes upon their arrival, during their service, and after the Army in the form of workshops, coaching, and personal advisors. Each year, more than 700 lone soldiers are served and 72% of those have reported the program has helped them manage challenges in education, finance, employment, and legal rights.

Sarah presented to the team to inform every one of what Wings is as well as the goals for the future in furthering its reach to help even more soldiers as they transition in to Israeli life. It was met with a lot of excitement and participation as Wings is something not many associates in the States knew much about. Sarah outlined what drives people to become lone soldiers and the challenges they face all while interjecting her own experiences in making the life changing decision when she was 22 to join the IDF.