On Tuesday morning, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv made their traditional Chanukah visit to Schneider Children’s Hospital in Petach Tikvah. Blatt: “You understand that this is the most important thing.”
The Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv basketball club made their traditional Chanukah visit to Schneider Children’s Hospital in Petach Tikvah. All of the team’s players were in attendance, with the exception of Giorgi Shermadini, whose wife gave birth to their second son earlier this week. Also in attendance were Guy Pnini and the entire professional staff, as well as team mascot Donny the Dog and representatives of the team’s fan club, The Yellow Heart, who handed out chocolate coins.
As is their custom, the players filled the hospital’s halls and rooms with yellow and blue, and it’s difficult to find the words to describe the smiles on the faces of the children when they met the stars of Maccabi and received gifts that included team shirts, posters and candy. The team also distributed cookies, a gift provided by Cup ‘O’ Joe, one of the team’s sponsors, toys and Supergoal stickers provided by PMI, and coloring books, balloons and memory games provided by Kupat Holim Clalit.
Head coach David Blatt said of the visit: “Everyone experiences these visits in his own way, but they affect everyone. The guys get some perspective about what is really important in life, and they try to return all of the love that they get. It’s an opportunity to help people who aren’t feeling well.”
Team captain Lior Eliyahu added: “It isn’t easy to see such tiny children undergoing these difficult treatments. We want to see them happy. I’m glad we can come here and cheer them up a bit, and I think it’s wonderful that other teams do the same.”
