Teaneck—Kids of Courage (KOC) is hosting a Community Weekend Shabbaton at Congregation Keter Torah, May 30–31. Shabbaton participants will be davening with the congregation throughout Shabbat and community members are invited to join the Shabbaton Shabbat afternoon for Seudah Shlishit at the shul.
KOC is a fully medically-supervised travel and year-round volunteer-centric organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and young adults (age 5–26) with serious medical diagnoses. Founded in 2008, KOC is committed to change the way people look at illness and open up a world of support, hope, and opportunity for every sick child and family, no matter how serious the diagnosis.
Stuart Ditchek, MD, co-founder of the organization and KOC Medical Director, told JLBC, “Kids of Courage was founded by a group of volunteers who recognized a need: that children and young adults with severe illness need year-round activities in order to thrive and continue to live.”
The organization thus takes “Couragers,” as both they and their counselors are called, on different trips throughout the year, from Shabbatons to adaptive ski trips to trips to theme parks in Florida and California. KOC believes in opening the world to kids who would otherwise be confined to their homes and hospitals. For a few weeks each year KOC helps these sick children forget about the tubes and the needles and the endless treatments and allows them to experience the thrills of carefree childhood happiness.
When Steven Tuch, father of 16-year-old Brian, who has several disabilities from leukemia treatments when he was a baby, visited the KOC website he was amazed at what he saw: an organization that took children like his son on trips all over the country and engaged them in all kinds of activities. According to Tuch, “KOC says we’re going to do something really crazy and then they make it work. They do things parents will not do with their kids because they don’t know how to and don’t have the resources to. KOC says we’ll take your kids, we’ll take care of everything and don’t worry about it.”
While the thought of putting your child who is on a respirator or in a wheelchair on skis might scare a parent, KOC assures parents that all trips are medically supervised. There is a medical logistics team as well as doctors, nurses, paramedics, and specially-trained counselors on hand to care for the kids. “The trips are an important part of KOC, but they are only a fraction of the offerings,” says Dr. Ditchek. “Many of the Couragers have long-standing friendships with the staff. They spend time with them on as frequent a basis as possible. The Lend a Hand program allocates allowances to the staff to take the Couragers out for a dinner, a show, a ball game, or anything at all. This bridges the gaps that often occur in seriously or chronically ill or disabled individuals. It also gives the parents and families the down time needed to regroup and recharge.”
Debby Adler, mother of 16-year-old Jacob, who has cerebral palsy, couldn’t agree more.
“KOC allows kids with severe medical disabilities to get to have parallel life experiences to mainstream kids. Just like I might send any of my other kids to a Shabbaton, I can send Jacob to one and he gets to tell his friends that he’s going to a Shabbaton.”
Being involved with KOC has changed Jacob’s life and the entire Adler family’s lives as well. Jacob’s counselors have become extended family members, and even the one who got married still stays in touch and comes to visit.
Participants do not have to pay to take part in any of the activities. And the counselors and staff are volunteers. So where does the money come from to pay for the year-round programming? “We rely wholly on the generosity of faithful donors who open their hearts up to the kids,” says Dr. Ditchek.
For more information about the Shabbaton and for sponsorship opportunities, visit www.kidsoc.org/teaneck. For more information about Kids of Courage, visit www.kidsoc. org or call (516) 612-8844.
By Sara Kosowsky Gross
