It keeps happening.

Another St. Louis family. Another ambulance bound for Israel.

The question now isn’t why. It’s how many more will follow.

Since Oct. 7, 2023, that pattern has accelerated, with St. Louis donors increasingly funding ambulances for Israel through Magen David Adom as a direct response to ongoing attacks.

RELATED: Ambulance honoring U-City couple delivers four new lives in Israel

A decision shaped by Oct. 7

For Debbie and Dr. Morris Finkelstein of Clayton, the decision to fund an armored Mobile ICU ambulance for Magen David Adom wasn’t new. It was familiar.

“Sponsoring an ambulance is a means of helping to provide life-saving support to injured people… at a moment of great need,” Morris Finkelstein said. “Being a retired physician, I am used to helping people needing medical attention, and sponsoring an ambulance is an extension of my medical career’s goals.”

Like many in the Jewish community, the Finkelsteins watched the events of Oct. 7 unfold in real time.

But for Finkelstein, the images didn’t just reinforce the need. They clarified something he hadn’t fully considered before.

“Before Oct. 7, I knew that there were several armored ambulances in Israel but didn’t recognize why they were needed,” he said. “However, after Oct. 7… I understood that armored ambulances were clearly needed.”

As missile and drone attacks intensified, so did the urgency.

In October 2024, the couple reached out to American Friends of Magen David Adom to begin sponsoring a 4×4 armored Mobile Intensive Care Unit ambulance, designed to protect both patients and medical crews from bullets and shrapnel while in transit.

According to Richard Zelin, director of strategic philanthropy for the organization, that kind of decision has become more common.

“Since Oct. 7, we have seen an increase in the number of donors who have been attracted to sponsoring ambulances,” Zelin said. “These vehicles are very tangible and concrete gift opportunities and have a direct lifesaving impact, especially under the current circumstances.”

A family pattern, not a one-time act

For the Finkelsteins, this wasn’t a reaction. It was a continuation.

Morris Finkelstein’s connection to Magen David Adom dates back decades, and to his father.

In 1976, after his mother died, his father and members of their Brooklyn synagogue sponsored an ambulance in her memory. Years later, after his father’s death in 1991, Morris, his wife and his brother did the same.

His parents were Holocaust survivors. They rarely spoke about what they lived through. But they were clear about what it meant.

Support Israel. Help save lives. Do something that matters when it matters most.

That didn’t stay in the past. It showed up again here.

From donation to deployment

The ambulance the Finkelsteins sponsored entered service late last year and is already part of MDA’s emergency response network.

According to Zelin, it has been used to respond to victims of missile and drone attacks, along with other life-threatening emergencies, moving quickly into areas where seconds matter and conditions are anything but stable.

It’s not the first time a St. Louis-funded ambulance has made an impact. In recent years, vehicles tied to local donors have delivered babies, responded to thousands of emergency calls and quietly become part of Israel’s frontline medical response.

An ambulance doesn’t sit in a fund. It shows up everyday. It answers a call. It carries someone through the worst moment of their life.

And then it does it all over again.

A gift without a name

The Finkelsteins will likely receive updates. Numbers. Milestones. Maybe even stories.

But they won’t know most of what matters.

They won’t hear the siren. They won’t meet the people inside.

“While we may never meet the injured people who are helped, we are proud to be of service,” Morris Finkelstein said. “We are honored to have sponsored a specialized Mobile ICU ambulance.”

In a moment when many are looking for ways to respond from afar, that distance is part of the reality.

So is the pattern.

Another family. Another ambulance.

And a hopeful sign it won’t be the last.