Long Island Friendship Circle Volunteers Honored

In a show of gratitude to the people who are the very lifeblood of the organization, the West Hempstead Friendship Circle honored more than 200 volunteers for their dedicated and committed service to children with special needs.

Taking a quick break from studies and finals, the highschoolers gathered Monday evening, June 16th, at the luxurious Garden City Hotel in Hempstead, Long Island for an evening of recognition to the volunteers of Friendship Circle.

The annual recognition evening also brought together parents, grandparents, Friendship Circle families as well as local politicians and dignitaries.

Kate Murray, the Hempstead Town Supervisor, told the volunteers “you make Hempstead a good place to live in.”

Also present was Edward Ambrosino, Hempstead Town Councilman, and Vincent Muscarella, Nassau County Legislator.

Stacy Ezor, the mother of a special needs child, told the crowd “after my two younger daughters witnessed the impact the Friendship Circle visits had on their brother, they could not wait to become volunteers themselves.”

Jonah Maryles, a volunteer and high school senior said “when I first started volunteering for Friendship Circle I thought that I would be giving more to a special needs child, now after years of volunteering I realized that I was wrong, I had been receiving even more.”

At the conclusion of the event, the volunteers received sweatshirts emblazoned with the Friendship Circle Logo, along with two honorary plaques from both the Friendship Circle and from the local legislators recognizing their amazing work.

The West Hempstead Friendship Circle is a project of Chabad of West Hempstead, which is directed by Rabbi Yossi and Chaya Rochel Lieberman.