Honoring Hatzalah’s efforts with a donation

Cedarhurst resident Sharona Beck was inspired to pay it forward to Hatzalah of the Rockaways & Nassau County after the volunteer ambulance corps helped save her life last year, as well as responding to other emergencies. 

Last March, Beck battled Covid-19 and credited Hatzalah with saving her life during her bout with the virus that has caused a global pandemic. “I was totally dehydrated and didn’t have any liquid in my body,” she said. “The hospitals were filled by that point and they were able to get me an IV.”

Hatzalah is a volunteer emergency medical corps based in Far Rockaway with a garage on Broadway in Woodmere. Hatzalah consists of more than 150 emergency medical technicians, paramedics and doctors, and claim an average response time of roughly two minutes, according to information on the organization’s website.

Beck runs her own real estate company, Sharona Beck Realty, with offices in Cedarhurst and West Hempstead that specialize in real estate across Long Island’s South Shore. She recently gave a $12,000 donation to Hatzalah of the Rockaways and Nassau County. Beck said that the money comes exclusively from her business

“All the guys have jobs and families but they still drop things at the drop of a hat when someone calls them,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what the person's background is, they know that a human life is a human life. They are so good natured and willing to help everyone.”

She recalled another example of Hatzalah’s dedication to helping others in an emergency   situation. “Years ago, I had a party in my backyard and something happened to one of my guests,” she said. The person fainted. “One of the Hatzalah guys broke their ankle running into my house, they didn’t tell me about that until after the fact. That’s the kind of people they are, doing whatever it takes.”

Hatzalah of the Rockaways and Nassau County representatives released a statement thanking Beck for the donation. “We greatly appreciate when community businesses step up and understand the importance of having a voluntary ambulance based in their local community,” the statement said. “It's great to have a local business help promote a vital community resource like Hatzalah.”

Being philanthropic and supporting civic-oriented organizations is vital to Beck. “Doing charity and doing good for the community has always been important to me,” she said. “I just feel it’s important to give back and always pay things forward.”

For more information on Hatzalah, go to www.hatzalahrl.org.