After members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage, Tony Lo Giudice felt that he had to do something, and he decided to go to Israel to work as a volunteer.
Lo Giudice, who is Jewish, said he was among many Jews from around the world who heard the call to come and help Israel in any way they could.
“I knew it would be easy just to send money, but I simply couldn’t sit idly by. I wanted to serve in any way that I was needed. It was a personal calling,” Lo Giudice said.
After he signed up, training began in the U.S.
“The training was a lot of walking and lifting. After I was cleared, I bought my ticket and was off. I would have left sooner, but I had to renew my passport, and that took some time,” he said. “Landing in Israel, it was overwhelming. There was uncertainty on what I’d be doing, but it was exciting. There was just a whole host of emotions. The Israelis were all so welcoming and thankful for all of us coming from all corners of the world to help them.”
Lo Giudice is the director of the Alamance County Health Department and took vacation for the period he went to Israel from Feb. 1 to March 4. He said that the department’s business was in more than capable hands while he was gone.
At the first base where Lo Giudice was stationed, he and other volunteers worked to clean tank parts and make sure that they were ready for use.
After that he was stationed at an air base.
“That base, we worked with weapons, making sure that they were ready to go. We also worked with ammunition. There was a lot of counting. Everything had to be in a ready state,” Lo Giudice said.
The third place he was stationed was an infantry training base.
“Trucks would come in, and us volunteers would offload them. Doing that allowed the soldiers to be able to go home on the weekends to be with their families. I get goosebumps just thinking about that,” Lo Giudice said.
He noted that he volunteered his weekends putting over 26,000 cell phone chargers together that could charge phones in the field.
“When I wasn’t working, I would volunteer at the local synagogue. It was all about staying busy and serving to the best of my abilities,” he said.
One of the things that stood out was that reminders of the hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 were omnipresent. Hamas still holds an estimated 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others.
“We were staying in a hotel in Jerusalem, and on the bus ride, you’d see reminders of the hostages everywhere. They were in the airports, around the cities and even in art instillations around Israel,” he said.
Lo Giudice said that he wished that he could have stayed longer.
“I will miss the Israeli people, the culture and contributing. It is exciting to be a small piece of it, just getting the work done. It wasn’t about politics. It’s about the hostages, the people and peace,” he said. “It was such a rewarding experience, and I am thankful that I got to do it.”
