Volunteerism Shaping our Future

BROOKLYN, NY [CHI] — The second annual leadership weekend for teen volunteer leaders will be held Friday, February 29 -Sunday, March 2, 2008, at the Meer Family Friendship Center in West Bloomfield, MI. The Weekend is a part of The Friendship Circle organization, a Chabad-based program which pairs service-minded teens with children who have special needs. Since its 1994 inception in West Bloomfield MI, the Friendship Circle phenomenon has spread to 13 American states and four countries for a current total of 72 branches and 9,850 volunteers.

The Friendship Circle’s volunteers, ranging ages 12 to 24, spend at least one hour a week with their special friend, either at their home or during a drop-off program at the Friendship Circle facility. They do activities together, talk, enjoy each other’s company and most importantly, they give the often-stressed parents a much needed break.

With the program’s popularity leading to rapid expansion worldwide in the past decade, a demand for enhanced infrastructure was created with the launching of the International Volunteer club at last year’s conference in January.

“I think the best part of the conference, was meeting people from every direction of this continent and seeing how their friendship circle’s contrasted from ours and how much of an impact it had made on their lives” says Ariel Charney, President of the International Volunteer Club.

The nucleus of each local chapter is its Volunteer Club, whose members are drawn from local schools, synagogues and other institutions. In turn, each represented organization has at least one volunteer leader, whose responsibilities include much of the grassroots recruiting, publicity and activity coordination—and it is these young leaders that the Conference seeks to address and serve.

Before and after Shabbos, volunteers attending the Conference will enjoy workshops on leadership skills, local club coordination, and enhancing medical/occupational training for special-needs children. Lots of camaraderie and fun will be had, too: Special entertainment and outings are planned for the three-day weekend as well, as well as the launching of new programs to further enhance the sense of unity and purpose.
Friendship Circle International is a division of The Shluchim Office

For more information on the Volunteer Conference, visit FCVolunteer.com