Paramus–In its largest turnout ever, approximately 1,200 participants joined the eighth annual New Jersey Friendship Walk at the Frisch School to show support for Bergen County’s Friendship Circle, an organization that pairs children with special needs with community teenagers for innovative, entertaining programming and social engagement. The day’s events raised an estimated $75,000 for the organization and its programs.
It was hot but breezy, and many members of the community brought children of all ages to the cheerful event. “It was a great show of community solidarity. It’s so important for the families to see people come out and show support,” said Zeesy Grossbaum, director of the Bergen County chapter of Friendship Circle, along with her husband, Rabbi Moshe Grossbaum.
In addition to a walk around Frisch’s perimeter, the event offered craft-making for the kids, as well as inflatables, an ice cream truck, a “stunt comedian,” mitzvah clowns from Areyvut, and face painting. The first 1,000 attendees also got a free T-shirt. An addition this year was a new homemade foam machine, made by Rabbi Grossbaum for about $300 in spare parts, because “foam machines are always the most expensive part of any carnival event we do, and now we can keep it. It was a fun project for him,” she said.
Especially poignant this year was seeing many community rabbeim join the walk. Rabbi Benjamin Yudin, Rabbi Larry Rothwachs, Rabbi Daniel Wolff, and Rabbi Chaim Hagler from Yeshivat Noam were some of the many faces seen in the crowd. “It gives such a good feeling to the families to see their rabbeim at this kind of event,” Grossbaum added.
The event is held primarily for community awareness and fundraising; not all of the 200 families the Friendship Circle serves are able to attend. This year, however, as part of a new program called Friendship Circle Adults, participants of several adult group homes run by J-ADD, the Jewish Organization for Adults with Developmental Disabilities, joined the Friendship Walk.
In addition to weekly events and home visits, the Friendship Circle runs school-break camps in various yeshiva day schools and high schools in the area, with teens serving as counselors. The experience teenagers get from working with children with special needs is often powerful and eye opening. As is the way with many kinds of chesed, the person doing the chesed may get as much or more out of it than the intended recipient. “It makes me feel really good to help someone else feel happy, especially when they are in a very difficult situation,” said Ari Solomon, a 14-year-old Friendship Circle volunteer.
“A child with special needs quite often has difficulties making friends and interacting with others, unlike most other children their age,” said Nikki Mark, 20, who has volunteered since her mid-teens. “The Friendship Circle enables these children to spend time with friends and make new ones in a safe and welcoming environment. Because of the programs the Friendship Circle runs, these children are able to go out and spend time with their friends, have a birthday party and experience fun things like everyone else.” Mark added that her time with the Friendship Circle has has such strong impact that she has chosen special education as a career, and she continually advocates for Friendship Circle to friends, family and community.
By Elizabeth Kratz
