Local Shliach Billed as Newspapers Hometown Hero

It is a warm, sunny Friday at Yerba Buena Elementary School. Summer is in full bloom. Classrooms are closed. Corridors are empty.

Rabbi Eli Laber, a young man with a ginger beard and glasses. “Let me show you where the kids are,” he says, making his way to a playground brimming with bright-eyed children—all here for the Conejo Valley Friendship Circle’s first summer camp.

Laber serves as director of the Conejo Valley Friendship Circle, a nonsectarian nonprofit affiliated with the Chabad organization. Founded in Michigan in 1994, the program was established in Agoura Hills in 2003. For the past three years, Laber has directed the organization, which serves about 150 families with special-needs children.

“The main goal here is not to cure anyone,” said Laber. “We’re here just to provide what they’re lacking—friendship.”

More than 300 teens, ranging in age from 14 to 18, volunteer to be “buddies” to kids with Down syndrome, Autism, Attention-Deficit Disorder, and other emotional or physical challenges, said Laber.

“There’s so much care they have. It is unbelievable to see how it comes out,” said Laber. “You don’t know who is gaining more—the volunteers or the children.”

This year is the Friendship Circle’s first summer camp.

“We’ve had a successful winter camp for the past four or five years,” Laber said, launching an additional session in the summer as a result.

Year round, Laber facilitates three-to-four different programs for special needs kids in the community every week. From rock climbing and tennis to music and art, Laber said he ensures that each kid has a way to get involved.

“We provide enough programs so that everyone can benefit,” Laber said. “Since we cater to kids across the spectrum, we figure out what each kid likes.”

Friendship Circle’s impact on Laber extends beyond the great satisfaction of serving. It also got him his wife.

“I met my wife while she was working on the program here with my now father-in-law [the former director],” Laber said. “I saw her being interviewing at the Chabad Telethon, and thought, ‘She seems like a really collected and cool girl.’ Not the typical orthodox way of meeting.”

When he is not directing the Friendship Circle, Laber said he enjoys basketball as a hobby.

“I grew up in Chicago during the Jordan era. How could you not love basketball,” Laber said. “Anyone that has Lakers tickets I’ll take them any day.”

For now, Laber dedicates most of his days to the Friendship Circle, and he wouldn’t want it any other way.

“Having this place where parents know they can drop off their kids and they can have a safe and great experience is what they need more than anything else.”