Catherine Jun / The Detroit News
Sami Dines, 16, says she learns invaluable lessons working weekly with Hailey, a 6-year-old who has epilepsy.
“People with special needs (should) not be defined by the special needs they have, but by who they are,” the West Bloomfield teenager said Sunday. “That’s important lesson for everyone to learn.”
A volunteer at the Friendship Circle, Dines plays weekly with Hailey, providing a friendship that is sometimes hard to come by for children with disabilities.
This weekend, Dines and about 50 other volunteers from 15 chapters around the world converged in West Bloomfield for a leadership conference.
“These volunteers are going to be the leaders,” said Bassie Shemtov, who along with her husband, Rabbi Levi Shemtov, founded Friendship Circle more than a decade ago. The organization is run out of the Meer Family Friendship Center on Maple Road.
The teens participated in leadership workshops, listened to guest speakers, and performed role-playing on how to best relate to children who in some cases may be unable to talk or control their emotions.
“I learned a lot about acceptance,” said Nechama Markovich, 18, of Far Rockaway, NY. The teen meets weekly with two boys, a 9-year-old with autism and an 8-year-old with Down Syndrome. “We learned about what’s important about a person is what’s inside,” Markovich said.
Since its founding in 1994, the Friendship Circle has inspired 73 branches in 17 U.S. states and four countries. Youths ages 12-18 spend at least an hour a week with children, sometimes baking, playing board games or sports. In addition to friendship, the teens provide time to parents of children with such needs a much needed reprieve, Bassie Shemtov explained.
The teenagers are scheduled to return to their hometowns today, one flying back to Australia. And they say they’ll be taking with them new ideas and a renewed commitment to their mission.
“Knowing how much it’s helping them, it makes me so happy,” said Elana Epstein, 16, from Northbrook, Ill.
Rickelle kol hakavod for a job well done!!!
Where are the photos?