Aussies urged to rally for Rella
Friends are rallying to raise funds to help a popular Israeli fitness guru, who grew up in Australia, fight her personal battle against brain cancer.
FRIENDS are rallying to raise funds to help a popular Israeli fitness guru Rella Itin, who grew up in Australia, fight her personal battle against brain cancer.
Itin, 37, who was born in Israel to Russian parents in Haifa, moved Down Under in 1981 when she was two years old.
Shira Agassy, a close friend in Israel, told The AJN that Itin grew up in Bondi, going to Yeshiva Primary School and Kambala School.
She finished high school with top marks and was accepted into the prestigious BIT scholarship program at UNSW. She did volunteer work at Sydney’s Royal Far West Children’s Home.
Itin was recognised with several achievement awards in computing and finance, including the Young Australian Achievement Award for Business Ideas and Innovation.
In 2003, taking a cue from her brother Eli who had made aliyah, she returned to Israel. Quitting a high-powered finance career, she followed her lifelong passion for athletics to become a fitness icon, famous for the six-week intensive “boot camps” she has conducted for the past seven years on the beach at Tel Aviv and also at Ra’anana.
However, in March this year, the mother of two young children received devastating news – she was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer.
Since then, friends and supporters have organised a crowdfunding campaign to provide Itin and her family with much-needed financial support while she undergoes treatment, as she has been unable to work due to her condition.
The campaign, spearheaded by two of Itin’s friends, Ruth Orkin, a British-born doctor, and Ori Lachmi, a Tel Aviv-based actor, went live on May 8, and more than 500 donations have poured in from Israel, the United States, Australia, Britain, South Africa and Canada, far exceeding the initial target of 20,000 shekels ($7150).
Most of Itin’s friends, acquaintances and former trainees had not been aware of her condition until the campaign was launched.
In addition to raising money, the “Help Rella Fight Brain Cancer” campaign organised a special “boot camp” event in Itin’s honour on June 2 to help boost her morale, with hundreds of people working out together at Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park to show their support for their fitness mentor.
It’s an admiration that spans continents. “She is very much loved by her friends and family in Australia,” said Agassy.
For more information or to make a donation, visit www.helprellafightbraincancer.com.
PETER KOHN
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