Special Needs Children Bond With Young Buddies

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — Arye Kramsky sits by the window Thursday afternoons, waiting for his “buddy” to come over and put together a puzzle or go for a bike ride.

It’s an excitement his mother Allison says she hasn’t seen before in her 14-year old son, who is autistic.

“It’s the first person he realizes is here for him, just for him,” she said. “Not just Mommy’s friend or some other relative.”

Kramsky is one of a dozen special needs children who spent Sunday at Bonita Creek Park slugging at tee-ball on the blacktop, playing on the swings and learning Tae Kwon Do, all with their “buddies” – teen volunteers hailing from different middle and high schools in Orange County.

The program is part of the Friendship Circle, a program started by Chabad Jewish Center of Newport Beach, which matches teens with special needs children for activities and above all, for friendship.

Rabbi Reuven Mintz and his wife, Chani, started the program a year-and-a-half ago, joining a network of 45 circles across the country organized by Chabad. The idea began 14 years ago in a community in Detroit, Michigan, which started the first circle.

“You and I enjoy normal socialization and we develop with socialization. When you don’t have that, you’re all alone,” Reuven Mintz said.

Teens are paired with special needs children in their community. They visit their “buddy” once a week and head to the park one Sunday a month for an afternoon of activities. Some of the program’s 80 teenagers volunteered in the program for community service projects for high school or their synagogues. Many continued after they met their service requirements.

“It was a lot of fun to hang out with him. There’s sort of a bond between us,” said Brendin Nye, a 14-year old volunteer who took a break from hockey practice Sunday to see his “buddy” Josh Marr. Marr, 11, also gives the program high marks. Especially Tae Kwon Do and making cookies and riding his bike with Nye and his other buddy Jocelyn when they visit on weekends.

About 50 children with special needs have enrolled in the program since it began in 2006.

Brandon Guzman, 17, said he’s enjoyed spending time with Arye. While he’s not sure what his class schedule will be once he heads off to college next year, he knows they’ll still be friends.