Friendship Circle Volunteers Kickoff New Year

Only a week into the school year, close to 300 Crown Heights high school girls gathered for their annual Friendship Circle volunteer kickoff and registration.

Girls from four local high schools, Bais Rivkah, Bnos Menachem, Bnos Chomesh, and Beis Chaya Mushka joined together to volunteer for an important cause within the community, the Friendship Circle. These girls have all given of their time to befriend children and young adults with special needs by visiting them weekly in their homes.

The girls were treated with a delicious pancake bar and an informative presentation delivered by Pesach Auerbach. The presentation included topics of how having a child with special needs dramatically changes the lives of a family and how important this program is; team building games which emphasized how we all need to actively participate in our community and its children; and about how communicate with children who are not verbal or challenging to understand.

Mr. Auerbach really brought home to the girls how challenging having a diagnosis can be, and how vital their friendship and visits are.

Following the presentation, the girls were introduced to their school sub-heads and presidents by volunteer coordinator Esther Rimler. The president’s led an interactive game of ‘Kahoot,’ where the guidelines for Friends at Home were discussed and the girls had a chance to register for the program.

The evening concluded with Mrs. Chani Majesky thanking the volunteers and emphasizing the importance of dedication and consistency, explaining that what a FC volunteer learns and gains during this experience, is priceless and will last a lifetime.

A very big thank you to FC’s in-house party planner Mushki Tenenbaum, Volunteer Coordinator Esther Rimler and school presidents Sara Osdoba, Sara Kugel, Lulu Feldman and Riki Rimler for making this event possible.

Special thanks to Benz’s Fish for co-sponsoring this event.

For more information about Friendship Circle, you can visit fcbrooklyn.com or e-mail berel@fcbrooklyn.com. Help support this vital work by purchasing a raffle ticket and be in the drawing to win $10,000 this Chanuka. Visit www.FCBrooklyn.com/RAFFLE

Photos by Jakub Redziniak

1fckickoff2016 2fckickoff2016 3fckickoff2016 4fckickoff2016 5fckickoff2016 6fckickoff2016 7fckickoff2016 8fckickoff2016 9fckickoff2016 10fckickoff2016 11fckickoff2016 12fckickoff2016 13fckickoff2016 14fckickoff2016 15fckickoff2016 16fckickoff2016 17fckickoff2016 18fckickoff2016 19fckickoff2016 20fckickoff2016 21fckickoff2016 22fckickoff2016 23fckickoff2016 24fckickoff2016 25fckickoff2016 26fckickoff2016 27fckickoff2016 28fckickoff2016 29fckickoff2016 30fckickoff2016 31fckickoff2016 32fckickoff2016 33fckickoff2016 34fckickoff2016 35fckickoff2016 36fckickoff2016 37fckickoff2016 38fckickoff2016 39fckickoff2016 40fckickoff2016 41fckickoff2016 42fckickoff2016 43fckickoff2016 44fckickoff2016 45fckickoff2016 46fckickoff2016 47fckickoff2016 48fckickoff2016 49fckickoff2016 50fckickoff2016 51fckickoff2016 52fckickoff2016 53fckickoff2016 54fckickoff2016 55fckickoff2016 56fckickoff2016 57fckickoff2016 58fckickoff2016 59fckickoff2016 60fckickoff2016 61fckickoff2016 62fckickoff2016 63fckickoff2016 64fckickoff2016 65fckickoff2016 66fckickoff2016 67fckickoff2016 68fckickoff2016 69fckickoff2016 70fckickoff2016 71fckickoff2016 72fckickoff2016 73fckickoff2016 74fckickoff2016