Friendship Circle Launches New Year of Volunteering

This past Thursday, over 200 girls from various schools in Crown Heights joined together to volunteer for an important cause within the community, the Friendship Circle.

These girls have all given over of their time to help children and young adults with special needs in Crown Heights by visiting them weekly in their homes.

Kicking off the year the new volunteers gathered together, to eat a delicious Milchig dinner, replete with pastas, salads, pizza, chocolates and more. The girls were divided into smaller groups and heard firsthand accounts from mothers and therapists who are involved with girls and boys with special needs. Through a range of activities they demonstrated to the girls what it is like to live with various disabilities.

The girls were then given tips and suggestions as to how to build a trusting and comfortable relationship with the child they will be visiting weekly. For some children this would include offering them sensory toys to play with, for others it would be engaging them in the same tasks every week. The presenters really brought home to the girls how challenging having a diagnosis can be, and how vital their friendship and visits are.

Wine bottles were presented to Mrs. Libby Klein, Shoshi Biggs, Sara Varon, Chaya Chein, Mrs. Nechama Hershkowitz, Mrs. Rochelle Spritzer, Mrs. Rochie Korolitzky, Mrs. Esther Betesh, Mrs. Chavie Goldschimdt, and Mrs. Chanie Marozov in thanks for running the sensitivity education workshop.

Following the session, a video was shown. The exciting and new FCconnect app was then introduced, This user friendly app helps girls keep track of their hours of volunteering as well as the points they are earning, to build up towards receiving great prizes. The app is available on android and apple platforms, to ensure that it is as easy and fun as possible to log in hours.

The girls then received the children’s names, days and times of when their visits will happen and left with a puppet making kit to take with them this week on their first visit.

A very big thank you to Sarale Jurkowicz, volunteer coordinator and our FC presidents Mussie Schimmel, Yocheved Segal, Leah Lew, Malka Kugel and Leah Borisute who arranged and assisted with this event.

The girls volunteer through going to visit Friends at Home, Sunday Circle and helping behind the scenes for events. For more information about Friendship Circle you can contact berel@fcbrooklyn.com