The eighth graders at SAR Academy recently participated in a special Chanukah chesed program with the Riverdale Skywriters Project. The students first listened to a presentation about the experience of patients who are in the hospital or in hospice, and then crafted beautiful handmade cards which were delivered to the patients at the the MJHS Zicklin Hospice of Riverdale on Chanukah. Thank you to SAR parent Lauren Lieberman for coordinating this meaningful project.

Below is a thank you letter from the director of the hospice expressing the heartfelt gratitude of the patients for the beautiful cards they received.

Dear SAR eighth graders and

Ms. Lieberman,

We, the staff, families and residents at the MJHS/Zicklin Hospice Residence in Riverdale, thank all of you for creating such beautiful Hanukkah/Holidays cards for our residents. Several of your artworks are posted at the entrance to our facility, right across the elevator doors. Others are hanging in individual rooms or are propped up on window sills, spreading joy and assuring folks that they are thought of with affection and compassion.You all did a fantastic job decorating the cards in creative and unusual ways. But even more noteworthy and inspiring were your written messages. It’s never easy to convey hope and kindness to strangers, and especially so to very ill ones. But in each card you expressed a very balanced and warm mixture of compassion and encouragement that was touching and meaningful. Several of my colleagues and I read every single card, and we were moved by your succinct messages of goodwill. You all just got it right. We thank you for your very meaningful tokens of pure and direct chesed. We are grateful to Ms. Lieberman for spearheading this project, to SAR’s administration for supporting it and to you, for taking it on so creatively and lovingly.

With best wishes for continued hatzlacha in all your endeavors,