Irving Carter, 76, British philanthropist who funded emergency medical services in Israel
Irving Carter, right, at a 2018 Magen David Adom UK dinner with Mark Regev, Israel’s ambassador to the United Kingdom. Image by Courtesy of Magen David Adom UK
(JTA) — If there was one institution with whom Irving Carter was most closely associated, it was Magen David Adom, the Israeli affiliate of the Red Cross.
The vice president of MDA’s British fundraising arm, Carter’s donations over three decades funded the procurement of dozens of ambulances, 12 bikes, two mobile blood banks and a mobile intensive care unit for Israel’s emergency services. Ambulances serving Jerusalem’s Old City bear his name and that of his widow, Gillian. A recently opened MDA station near Haifa is dedicated to his grandson, Jack Segal.
Carter died on April 3 of the coronavirus. He was 76.
MDA “lost one of its greatest friends,” the group said in a statement, describing Carter as a man who “was responsible for saving hundreds of thousands of lives in Israel through his generosity.”
“I am lucky enough to be able to do whatever I can to enable them to save lives,” Carter once said. “It is a privilege for me to be able to give to them.”
Tributes to one of the British Jewish community’s most generous yet understated philanthropists have flowed in recent days from the organizations he supported.
ALEH, an Israeli charity working with disabled children, said Carter was “a kind and gentle soul who cared deeply for our children.” His “giving heart was matched by an unparalleled generosity of spirit.”
In November 2018, Irving and Gillian opened the Sylvia Carter Medical Center for children with severe and complex disabilities at ALEH’s rehabilitation clinic in Gedera.
Paul Anticoni, CEO of World Jewish Relief, said his organization “mourned the loss of Irving Carter whose kindness, humility and philanthropy changed the lives of thousands of our clients.”
The Odessa-based rescue aid organization Tikva said Carter was “a larger than life ‘mensch’ who lived to give and who was always the first to offer assistance with an open hand, a huge heart and a warm smile.”
The post Irving Carter, 76, British philanthropist who funded emergency medical services in Israel for 30 years appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
