Roni's Neighbors began during the Corona crisis as "Heart to Plate." Heart to Plate's objective was to help seniors that lacked nearby family or other forms of support, and lacked access to healthy food.

 

Our founders, Roni Lee Z"L and Matan Asulin, viewed food as more than a health necessity - it's also a bridge between people, building personal connection and community that can, in ways big and little, help seniors become less lonely. Roni and Matan built a volunteering model that could generate that bridge-building: each senior is assigned four volunteers; one volunteer visits each week, bringing a homemade meal to eat over while they talk. The model's low time-commitment and shared responsibility encourages volunteers to stay with the same senior for months and even years, building strong bonds that morph into a supportive community around the senior.

 

In October of 2023, Roni tragically and suddenly passed away. A young woman with a bright future, Roni had a huge heart, a gift for leadership, and an aspiration to create profound social change in Israeli society. Her absence left a hole in our heart, and deprived our country of someone truly incredible. 

 

To honor her, we decided to fulfill her dream, that no senior in Israel should be left alone. We began by taking steps she and Matan had started earlier in the year - expanding our organization's scope and impact to reach more seniors, all across Israel, including and beyond the hot meal model. To reflect this change and her memory, we renamed ourselves "Roni's Neighbors." 

 

We invite you to join our growing community. Whether as a volunteer, a senior, or a donor, there's always room for another neighbor!