It’s hard enough when you have children in different yeshivas with different vacation schedules. Now imagine that you also have children in the Teaneck public school system. They have off the last week of December but none of your other children do. What can you do to keep them occupied while you go to work, since you too do not have off? Now imagine that that child has special needs, so you can’t just drop them off at the babysitter and wish them a good day.

For 12 years, Friendship Circle of Bergen County has taken away the guesswork for hundreds of families in Bergen County who face this conundrum at the end of each calendar year. Once again, Friendship Circle of Bergen County will be running Winter Camp at the Frisch School this year, the week of December 24. The mornings will be spent on off-site trips and the afternoons will be spent engaged in a variety of activities at the Frisch School. Throughout the day, Frisch students will be paired with Friendship Circle participants. Generally, once the kids return from the trip, there will be a changeover so that the students can return to class.

Of note is that while some schools require their students to put in a certain number of chesed hours a year, Frisch does not. And yet, there is an overwhelming number of students who not only take part in Winter Camp but are Friendship Circle volunteers throughout the year. At the Frisch School, there are designated chesed days over the course of the year. Rabbi Joshua Schulman, director of chesed programming at the Frisch School, works to find ways to get the students involved in chesed-related activities. Friendship Circle Winter Camp very much fits into this mandate. Students literally take time out of their school day to take part in chesed.

Rabbi Schulman told The Jewish Link, “It happens to be the week of camp is one of our favorite weeks in the whole school year. The camp infuses the entire school with an unbelievable aura of generosity and kindness, fun and love. And even though we’re not able to have all the grades participate in the camp at any given point, I think our entire school community is enriched that week by all that goes on. The camp is a real opportunity for a diverse body of students possessing numerous strengths and weaknesses in their various classes to access and display an entirely different subset of talents and skills that a typical school day might not offer.”

He added, “One of the nicest parts, either from participating in general Friendship Circle programming throughout the year or in camp from year to year, is that there are some participants who know one another and have relationships from the past. Certain students request specific kids in order to get to spend more time together. It’s amazing. I can only describe it with so many words but when people actually witness it and see the spark and excitement in the eyes of our students and the Friendship Circle students, it’s truly remarkable.”

Leora Secemski, whose son Ari has autism, is one of the original Friendship Circle of Bergen County Winter Camp campers. “Winter camp has been invaluable because my husband and I work full time,” she shared. “It’s a place for Ari to go for the week and provides him with activities all day; there are constant activities and trips. And it gets him involved with typical kids. I walk into a pizza shop and teens come over to say hello. It’s a wonderful program.”

Moshe and Dena Kinderleherer have had a similar experience. According to Moshe, publisher of The Jewish Link, “The Friendship Circle Winter Camp is such a help to us and our family. Our son would literally be sitting at home all day and doing almost nothing. He needs to be around other kids and he loves and looks forward to this program…we have really come to rely on it.”

Dena concurred and elaborated, “Zev loves all the outings and activities, but his favorite part is being with teens and hanging out with them in a Jewish setting. He goes to a public school, so he loves going to Friendship Circle and being in a Jewish environment. It also is a tremendous lifesaver to us and other families. All in all, we are tremendously indebted to Friendship Circle for all they do for these kids and we can’t imagine our lives without it.”

Friendship Circle of Bergen County Winter Camp will take place on Monday, December 24, and Wednesday-Friday, December 26-28, for children 5 and up, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information or to register a child, contact [email protected].

By Sara Kosowsky Gross

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