All over Israel farms continue to need help from volunteers.

For the first few days of the war Home Front Command instructed volunteer groups like Leket to stay home, there was concern about buses of volunteers getting caught by Iranian missile fire and falling shrapnel from intercepts on open roads and in the open countryside.

A few days ago though guidelines were given for small groups of volunteers to go out to farms again, as long as they had shelters in case of missile attacks.

Last night was a sleepless night for many Israelis who were repeatedly jarred awake by missile and drone alerts from Iran and their proxy Hizballah in Lebanon. We gave up on running back and forth and just squished into our mamad (home shelter) as best we could. As my daughter put it, kind of like trying to sleep while playing Twister.

Despite the sleep deprivation though groups of volunteers were up at 0500 or earlier to make their way to farms in need around the country.

I joined a group I often volunteer with from Jerusalem, mostly pensioners, who've been supporting local agriculture since Hamas invaded in October 2023. Today's volunteers included several retired nurses, a retired Egged bus driver, retired teachers, a semi-retired librarian, a tour operator, a semi-retired agronomist and someone recovering from recent knee surgery, still walking with a cane.

This is an experience group of farm volunteers who've been all over the country, but most of all spent time helping farms in the Gaza border area.

We know the drill, what to do if a siren sounds while we're on the road. We know that in the current situation the first thing to do when we arrive at a farm is to make sure we know where the shelter is.

We have stories to tell from various war time sirens involving taking cover in muddy roadside ditches and lying flat in an orchard where the ground was covered in over ripe avocadoes. All things considered these have been very rare occurrences despite the many many hours we've logged on the roads and in farms in front line areas.

Shortly after arriving at the agricultural packing centre today in south-central Israel we were joined by another small group of volunteers, also mostly pensioners, but from Tel Aviv. In autumn 2023 we were strangers, by now we've run into each other volunteering at the same farms so many times that we are all familiar faces.

And there was just so much work to be done today: crates upon crates upon crates of all kinds of produce freshly picked or waiting in the refrigerator room from yesterday or the day before. Fruits but mostly vegetables to be sorted into premium and seconds quality categories, cleaned and sometimes trimmed and finally packed ready for delivery to customers around the country, some paying customers, others for donation to people in need.

We were relieved that the workday went by without sirens. We had an alert about missiles launched from Iran on the drive back and pulled off to find shelter in the nearest moshav village, but fortunately for us the sirens missed us and we were able to continue on our way.

I won't say that there was no trepidation in heading out on intercity roads at the moment, but there was also comfort in what has become a familiar routine.

Most of all there is strength in being able to do something to help our people in these difficult times, however small that something is in the scheme of things, it's important to be able to find a way to do.

This is very much the ethos of Israel, to be the helper, not to stand by but to make a difference and this goes double and triple for times of crisis or war.

There are volunteers all over the country, many in much riskier areas, who are going out to support farmers, who are helping clear up sites where missiles or missile fragments have hit, who are volunteer medics and first responders, who are sheltering people who's homes were damaged, people offering their gardens or homes to young couples who's weddings would otherwise be cancelled because of the limitations on public gatherings, volunteers who are cooking up vast quantities of home cooked meals for anyone affected by the war, including thousands of those who've had emergency call-ups, and of course Israelis all over the country who are volunteering to go out and deliver assistance to anyone who needs it, even when there are air raid sirens and so much uncertainty. This is the backbone of Israeli resilience.