|
|  |
|
|
5/14/2009 10:44:00 AM
|
|
 |
|
Volunteer leaders Andrew Goldman, 15, of Bloomfield Hills; Max Herczeg, 15, of Farmington Hills; Carson Kane, 16, of West Bloomfield; Noah Zucker, 16, of West Bloomfield; Justin Moss, 17, of West Bloomfield; and Matt Luckoff, 17, of Bloomfield Hills
|
 |
 |
|
Avy Schreiber, center, of Southfield, with other singers
|
|
For information on the Friendship Circle, access the Web site at: friendshipcircle.org or call (248) 788-7878.
|
|
NEWS: Honoring Volunteers
Friendship Circle recognizes a large group of its friends.
Levi Stein
Special to the Jewish News
Close to 1,000 people attended the annual Friendship Circle Recognition Event - honoring the 750 dedicated volunteers of the Morrie and Sybil Finkel Volunteer Club.
The West Bloomfield-based Friendship Circle is an organization with a unique approach to helping families of children with special needs. Innovative programming and creative activities are designed to foster a relationship between community teenagers and the children by drawing on the love, boundless energy and dynamism of the teenage population.
The May 6 event began with a Chinese auction in LifeTown, a 23,000-square-foot facility that serves as a therapy and activity center, social meeting place and hub for the network of volunteers, staff and supporters. Following the auction, attendees walked a short distance to the Shul-Chabad Lubavitch for the reception.
Bassie Shemtov, co-founder and director of Friendship Circle, told the volunteers, "Thank you for orchestrating such brilliance! Your dedication, your heart, your unending ability to give and give has created the most inspirational song and the most amazing example of a united community."
Teenage volunteer Max Herczeg proclaimed to the crowd, "Friendship Circle has taught me hope. Watching children half my age struggling with and overcoming life's toughest challenges has taught me to become more patient, responsible and most importantly a true believer in hope."
In the past year alone, Friendship Circle has opened its doors to 70 schools in Michigan and more than 3,000 families in Metro Detroit. As its impact spreads across the nation, many are still surprised to learn about what started in West Bloomfield.
|
|
|
|
|
|
