Israeli Defense Force Widows and Orphans Organization, TAPS Share United Goal, Support for Families of the Fallen

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August 9, 2016

ARLINGTON, Va. - Shlomi Nahumson, Israeli Defense Force Widows and Orphans Organization (IDFWO) Youth Director, will meet with representatives from the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) and provide a briefing to the staff of the Joining Forces Initiative at the White House today.

"TAPS is proud to collaborate with the IDFWO," said Dr. Lynda Davis, TAPS Executive Vice President. "Grief is a universal language.  It means so much for our surviving military families to share their grief journey with those family members who are from allied countries." 

TAPS has offered its peer-based programs to U.S. military survivors but also its best practices abroad with allies like Israel, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

"The IDFWO is proud of our collaboration with TAPS, many of our youth have built lifelong bonds with their American counterparts," Nahumson said. "Together we can improve the lives of the families of our fallen heroes in America and Israel. Learning from shared experience and praying for a peaceful future for both great nations."

The meeting comes on the heels of IDFWO's annual tour of North America, which offered 25 teenage children of Israel's fallen military, who recently celebrated their Bar and Bat Mitvahs, the opportunity to travel abroad to Canada and the United States. It is tradition for Israeli families to travel abroad after a Bar or Bat Mitvah. The trip, sponsored by IDFWO, is an opportunity for families who have lost a loved one in military service.

Previously, TAPS and IDFWO have held joint programs in Israel and the United States where surviving military families from each country have come together to share in the grief journey.

AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW: 
Shlomi Nahumson, IDFWO Youth Director                         
Dr. Lynda Davis, TAPS Executive Vice President

MEDIA CONTACT:
For interviews with Shlomi Nahumson, please contact Avi Hyman at avihyman@gmail.com or 347-434-9256. For interviews with Dr. Lynda Davis, please contact Kelly Griffith at kelly.griffith@taps.org or 202.588.TAPS (8277).

ABOUT TAPS:
The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) is the national organization providing compassionate care for the families of America's fallen military heroes and has offered support to more than 60,000 surviving family members of our fallen military and their caregivers since 1994. TAPS provides peer-based emotional support, grief and trauma resources, healing seminars and retreats for adults, camps for children, casework assistance, connections to community-based care, online and in-person support groups and the 24/7 National Military Survivor Helpline at 800.959.TAPS (8277) available for all who have been affected by a death in the Armed Forces. Services are provided free of charge. For more information go to www.taps.org or call TAPS at 202.588.TAPS (8277).

ABOUT IDFWO:
The IDF Widows and Orphans Organization (IDFWO) is the sole non-profit organization recognized by the State of Israel that represents and supports the widows and orphans of Israel's fallen soldiers. The organization provides social, emotional and financial support to widows and orphans who have suffered a great loss: that of a husband and/or father. From the moment that the family is informed of the tragic news, until the child graduates university, the IDFWO is on hand to support and help those left behind. www.idfwo.org/eng