It was an event that Orioles pitching ace Dean Kremer wasn’t about to miss, says Adam Gladstone, alluding to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces’ Maryland Solidarity Dinner last Tuesday night, Nov. 28, at Martin’s West.
“He came in on Monday morning [Nov. 27] from [his home in Glendale] Arizona, and we had dinner with the [chapter’s] board of directors and donors, and on Tuesday night we went to the gala so Dean could interact with everyone,” said Gladstone, Kremer’s Team Israel assistant general manager during the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
“When it was time to acknowledge IDF soldiers, Dean stood up because his brother [Ron] is in the IDF,” Gladstone said. “People really sought him out. … One thing Dean does is he wears a Star of David you can see when he’s pitching, and people want to thank him for doing that.”
Kremer, 27, who was the first-ever Israeli drafted by a Major League Baseball team, was among the more than 800 people who attended the Friends of the IDF gala.
Before the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, the Maryland chapter was planning an annual gala to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Israel’s founding. But after the terrorist attacks and subsequent Israel-Hamas war, the FIDF had no choice but to “pivot the programming,” said Owings Mills resident Stacey Verstandig, who along with her husband Steven and Michelle and Steve Wions served as co-hosts of the gala.
“We wanted an event of solidarity where we were bringing the Baltimore community together to honor the troops and their families for what they’re doing on the ground and how FIDF is taking care of them,” said Verstandig. “It was incredible to see how people really care, such an outpouring of love.”
FIDF is a nonprofit that provides for the wellbeing of Israeli soldiers, veterans and their family members. Funds raised at the Nov. 28 event will go toward ambulances, plasma, hygiene kits and aid for bereaved families.
Reut Friedman, director of the Maryland chapter, said the event raised more than $200,000 — “a record number for us.”
The event featured a special performance by violinist Bar Markovitch, a former IDF musician and award-winning violinist; singer Yifaat Asher; and Baltimore-based Cantor Yoni Rose.
Since the Oct. 7 attacks, Friends of the IDF has sent more than $50 million of humanitarian aid to Israel, said Marty Taylor, president of the organization’s local chapter.
“We’re the only organization that works directly with the IDF, and we supply only humanitarian aid,” he said. “Our community raised funds for two ambulances because ambulances were attacked on Oct. 7th to delay the response time of our first-responders so they couldn’t help those in need. We came together and within four hours, we had raised $147,000 for one ambulance. And over the next 24 hours we had a second ambulance funded.”
For information, visit fidf.org/act-local/our-chapters/maryland-chapter/
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