Dawn Saidel, 47, is the director of major gifts for the American Friends of Magen David Adom, a role she’s held for about six years.

The Huntingdon Valley resident has found her professional home, as well as her purpose: raising money to build ambulances and other vehicles for Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency medical service. Saidel organizes those well-known, well-publicized dedications for the ambulances before they are shipped off.

“I think it’s helping people in their most vulnerable moments and offering them hope. It’s helping people not only when there’s a terrorist attack; it’s being there when someone has a baby. It’s making sure they’re OK and cared for,” she said.

Saidel describes herself as “Philadelphia born and raised.” She grew up in the northeast and graduated from George Washington High School.

Her parents are here. Her siblings are here, too. She loves the Eagles.

“I don’t think I could ever leave,” she said.

But it was in high school in Northeast Philadelphia that she realized her “happy place” was somewhere else.

Representatives from the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia put out an announcement to GW students saying, “We’ll take 40 kids to Israel for 2 1/2 weeks for $1,000.”

“It changed my life,” Saidel said. “I was always the kid who loved Hebrew school, but it wasn’t until I went to Israel that I had such a powerful connection to the Jewish people.”

During those 2 1/2 weeks, Saidel would walk around at 11 p.m. and feel safe. She would also speak with soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces about why it was important to them to serve.

She developed a connection to the land and the people. She also recognized that “everyone belonged regardless of background.”

“I knew I wanted to spend more time there,” she said.

Saidel graduated from Penn State University in 2001 with a degree in advertising and public relations. At that moment, she faced a choice.

“Do I want to be marketing Nike or Coca-Cola, or do I want to do something that’s important to me?” she asked.

Saidel went to Los Angeles to pursue a master of arts degree in communication management from the University of Southern California and a master of arts degree in Jewish communal service from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion-Los Angeles. She also interned with the Jewish Federation Los Angeles.

The future major gifts officer had already learned to fundraise through her sorority during THON at Penn State, the well-known dance marathon that raises money for childhood cancer. She found she enjoyed that type of work at the Federation.

“I never looked back,” she said.

Saidel went on to hold development roles at Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Camp Ramah in the Poconos, the Gershman Y and Lions Gate, a Jewish senior community.

But it was a position as Mid-Atlantic regional director at the Birthright Israel Foundation that brought her back to her happy place. Saidel worked for the foundation for almost five years before moving on to American Friends of Magen David Adom.

AFMDA is her longest professional stop yet. What she likes about the work is that it’s “tangible.”

Donors see their ambulance before it ships off to Israel. Later, they can learn statistics like the number of emergency calls that the vehicle responded to during a given time period.

“These are tangible things, instead of putting money into a bucket and not being sure where it goes,” she said.

Saidel meets prospective donors at events, through other donors and during speaking engagements at synagogues, among other avenues of outreach. Since Oct. 7, more and more people have found the organization.

Every conceivable metric for AFMDA has increased, including the number of people interested in contributing, the number of people who contribute and the number of events that AFMDA puts on.

“I would say my work has quadrupled,” Saidel said.

As an experienced fundraiser, Saidel makes sure to listen to “people and their passions.” Every gift is “personal to that person and their family,” she said.

Due to the tangible nature of AFMDA’s work, the major gifts officer doesn’t have trouble explaining its mission. But she is sure to remind potential donors of two details that can get lost in the shuffle: Magen David Adom is not funded by the Israeli government, and its efforts help everyone living in Israel, not just Jews.

“Magen David Adom is an apolitical organization. I think people really love that,” she said.

While the work helps everybody, it also builds up the Jewish state.

“I think whether or not you’re in favor of one government or another, Israel has the right to exist. People have a right to live there. We should be supporting Israel and the right of Israel to exist,” Saidel said.

jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com