For over 27 years, Shalva—the Israel Association for Care & Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities—has been dedicated to providing transformative care for individuals with disabilities, empowering their families and promoting social inclusion. Non-denominational and free of charge, Shalva’s programs provide an all-encompassing range of services for thousands of individuals from infancy to adulthood.

All are invited to attend Shalva’s annual Thursday Night Live—a benefit for Shalva’s summer day and sleepaway camp programs. This year’s event will take place Thursday, June 22, at 8 p.m. at the home of Elaine and Hillel Weinberger (591 Winthrop Road, Teaneck). The event co-hosts are Hannah and Alan Feder, Careena and Drew Parker, Gail and Binyamin Rieder, Tammi and Bennett Schacter, Daniella and Daniel Seligsohn and Jacques Semmelman.

All proceeds from our Thursday Night Live will benefit Shalva’s summer camp programs. As a result of Shalva’s rapid growth over the past year, made possible by our new national center, they are anticipating a record number of campers for both highly successful summer programs: their eight-week summer day camp, which maintains Shalva’s regular daily schedule throughout the summer, and the eight-day sleepaway camp program, which takes place in August.

This year’s camp program will include 300 children with disabilities, 300 volunteer aids and 150 professional staff members. During each week in August, Shalva’s sleepaway camp will accommodate a different group of 85 children.

Shalva’s summer camp programs are all about inclusion. When children with disabilities are paired with peers without disabilities for two months during the summer, friendships develop and thrive.

All of this preparation for summer is occurring on the heels of a groundbreaking milestone for Shalva. History was made three weeks ago when hundreds of friends and donors traveled from around the world to gather in Jerusalem to celebrate the much-anticipated grand opening of the new Shalva National Center—the home of love, of hope and human dignity.

The ribbon-breaking ceremony began with the sounding of 10 extended shofars. Mayor Barkat exclaimed, ”When people come to the city of Jerusalem, they ask me what they should see. I tell them to go see the City of David so they see their roots. And then I tell them to go and see Shalva. People who enter this center do not go out the same people. This place changes them.”