Jacob Kamaras
THE JEWISH STATE
May 21, 2010
The Friendship Circle of Western Monmouth County has raised $111,000 from this month's Walk4Friends, but Chanale Wolosow, the organization's director, emphasizes a harder-to-measure result: what the 1,000 participants learned.
At Brookdale Community College on May 2, Friendship Circle, which was started by Chabad of Western Monmouth County in 2001 as a local branch of a national organization that provides support to the disabled and their families, drew volunteers and special-needs children from across central New Jersey to its second annual 3K walk.
"I think really the whole community learned to be more accepting and more giving as a result of this organization," Wolosow told The Jewish State.
"When they walk in the mall, and they see a special [needs] kid, they are not going to just turn away," she said.
Though launched by Chabad, Friendship Circle is now an independently funded organization. The money raised from this year's walk -- and donations are still coming in -- represents a significant increase from the $70,000 Friendship Circle raised from last year's inaugural event. The funds, Wolosow said, will be used to support two-hour Sunday therapy sessions for 35 special needs children, winter and summer camp, and other Friendship Circle programs.
About 80 special needs children currently benefit from Friendship Circle, Wolosow said.
"We're hoping to be able to accept more kids now that we've raised this money," she said.
A trademark of Friendship Circle is the individualized attention special needs children get, given the organization's base of 120 teenage volunteers from Jewish and public schools.
"It shows that people outside of [special needs children's] families care about them and love them," Wolosow said.
Before the walk, participants were treated to an aerobic warm-up with a trainer from New York Sports Clubs, and afterwards they enjoyed BMX bike show, petting zoo, rock climbing, rides, arts and crafts, and food. Wolosow said the walk wasn't restricted to anyone, as even her 1-year-old son Dov came along.
For more information on Friendship Circle, call (732) 536-2319.