On the sunny Sabbath morning of February 28th, the pioneers of Roi, a small and isolated agricultural community in the Jordan Valley, were greeted, along with the rest of Israel, by the roaring sound of air raid sirens. Hardly anyone was caught off guard. The regional tensions surrounding Iran had been building up again for weeks. It was no secret for anyone in Israel: another round of war against the Islamic Republic of Iran was inevitable and right around the corner. However, in contrast to the 12-day war in June of last year, the residents of Roi, in the most recent and longer campaign against Iran, had an additional and crucial bomb shelter available to them.
“With every siren, there was a very noticeable difference in how everyone responded,” shared Natalie Cohen, head of Roi’s civilian emergency response team. “Our emergency responders had much less stress in attending the needs of everyone in Roi knowing that as opposed to last summer, we had another functional bomb shelter available that literally saved lives!”
Having not been in use for decades, several of Roi’s existing bomb shelters were in a state of disrepair. Only after the horrific attacks on October 7th, 2023, were the shelters reopened, revealing the full extent of the structural deterioration that had accumulated in each of them over time. In one bomb shelter, the doors had completely crumbled, leaving only the frames and making it impossible to properly seal and close. Consequently, that bomb shelter, the only one located close enough for a portion of Roi’s families as well as for the 26 students attending the local primary school, was declared unusable.
Even before the 12-day was in June 2025, the pioneers of Roi understood that repairing or replacing the shelter’s doors was imperative. However, given the heightened tensions and threats following the October 7th attacks, Roi’s security budgets over the last few years were only sufficient to address the community’s most urgent needs, which primarily revolved around preventing and monitoring potential infiltrations from surrounding hostile Arab villages. As a result, the families of Roi lacked the financial resources to renovate the shelter’s entrance.
When dozens of ballistic missiles were launched against Israel during the 12-day war with Iran in June 2025, the nonfunctioning state of the bomb shelter became a critical security risk. During any siren, nearby elderly residents and families with small children were simply unable to reach the more distant shelters in time. Moreover, those who could run the extra distance inevitably occupied the already limited space available in the other shelters.
“The ability to properly secure our residents from a ballistic missile attack became something we could no longer take for granted,” said Roi’s Community Coordinator, Tohar Greenberg.
Desperate for help, the pioneers of Roi turned to CFOIC Heartland, and you responded, providing them with the means to finally replace the doors of the bomb shelter!
“When we received, in August of last year, our gift from CFOIC Heartland donors, we immediately began renovating the shelter and replacing the doors,” Tohar noted.
“There was not a moment of delay on our part because we knew, after last year’s campaign with Iran, how urgent the need was.”
That urgency became even more apparent during the second round of fighting with Iran earlier this year.
“When large interception fragments fell right outside our community on March 8th, reality struck event more,” Tohar added.
For Shirley Schick, a member of Roi’s civilian emergency response team who uses the renovated shelter, CFOIC Heartland’s contribution held personal significance.
“When an interception fragment fell on my greenhouse, I saw the extent of just how real the threat was,” she said. “Knowing we now have a usable shelter nearby that we can run to changes the whole equation!”
Natalie Cohen stressed that the loving support from CFOIC Heartland donors has truly touched every resident of Roi: “During every siren this year, whenever we saw our children and everyone else who needed the shelter sitting safely inside, we were deeply moved by the generosity of and sincerity of CFOIC Heartland donors!”