Milstones Newsletter February 2009 - American Freinds Of Beit Issie Shapiro

Milestone Newsletter

www.afobis.org

Issue # 1 February 2009 Gala Celebrates ¼ Million Dollars th

Beit Issie Shapiro celebrated its 6 annual Gala in California, honoring Cycles For Smiles “where a little change makes a whole lot of change.” Thank you to the following schools for their cycling: Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School Temple Ramat Zion Adat Ari Religious School Temple Judea Adat Elohim Temple The Ami School Ahavat Shalom Valley Beth Shalom Aliyah Temple West Side JCC Alpert JCC of Long Beach Yeshivat Yavneh Beth Chaverim Temple Ramat Zion Bnai Hayim Temple Temple Judea Bnai Simcha Jewish Preschool The Ami School Burbank Temple Valley Beth Shalom Contra Costa Jewish Day School West Side JCC Douglas Family ECC, Temple Sinai Yeshivat Yavneh Eretz Alliance Preschool Institute of Jewish Education Diamond Award Winners Kadima Hebrew Academy Margie Ipp of Temple Judea & Kehilat Israel, Pacific Palisades Dr. Sheryl Cohen Kol Tikvah of Stephen S. Wise Temple Leo Baeck Temple Malibu Jewish Preschool Maimonidies Academy Mann Family Wilshire Miles for Smiles Pressman Academy Stephen S. Wise Temple Temple Akiba Temple Etz Chaim

Udis Wonderland A Fantasy World for Children All funds raised during the Gala went to Udis Wonderland, the magical playground that develops the motor abilities Beit Issie Shapiro children need for walking, running, biking, and playing – just like every child! www.events.org/udiwonderland

Recent Cycles for Smiles:

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Alpert Long Beach JCC – cycling for its 3 year th Valley Beth Shalom – cycling for its 6 year th Yeshivat Yavneh – cycling for its 5 year

Introducing Our Newest Member – Kehilat Israel Kehilat Israel held their first Cycles for Smiles in June 2008. All proceeds went to help a little girl named Lia. This year, the money will help Oren. Our hope is to encourage the commitment of the children to save Tzedakah for Oren and to build the excitement as they prepare to ride their trikes during Lag B' Omer because Oren is unable to ride his own.

Hot off the Press!! CFS Handbook Thank you to Lucienne & Lee Adams for their generous donation for printing & collating the books!

Learn to Create your own BIS Tzedakah Boxes Sigalit Nechemia, creator and expert can give you all the details. Call or Email today for more information! American Friends of Beit Issie Shapiro Tel: 323.938.9851 or [email protected]

Elijah has really been enjoying kindergarten so far. We've been hearing about P.E., Spanish class, etc... and lots about his "big buddy" (a sixth grader) and a body-tracing project that they have been working on. Adam and I went to parent night at Village School last night and finally had a chance to see the project. There is a message attached to each student's portrait that is supposed to answer the question, "how can I be a good friend?" Please see Elijah's response above. Obviously his experience in the ECC at Kehilat Israel and learning about Lia has made a lasting impression. Thanks for helping us prepare our man for kindergarten! All the best ~ Jeannie Lurie

A group of quilters in Raanana, Israel, got together to create a magnificent quilt to honor the B’nai Mitzvot generosity.

Yad B’ Yad – B’nai Mitzvah Twinning By donating some of their Bar/Bat Mitzvah gifts, purchasing much-needed therapeutic equipment, or twinning with one of our children, these remarkable young leaders have done a “mitzvah” of a lifetime! Roi Abrahams Alon Abrahams Courtney Adams Shira Ander Renne Bainvoll Efraim Bainvoll Hannah Beerman Jonathan Broome Ariel Broome Jackie Cohen Tamar Cohen Yael Cohen Jessica Ezer Gabriella Fazio Jonathan Fazio Sam Felton

Elisheva Gasner Harris Girocco Michael C. Greenberg Roni Katzin Jessica Levi David Martin Naomi Mestman Sarena Meyer Sam Meyer Gabriel Miller Zachery Miller Lauren Candice Monk Rachel Monk Nitzan Muskatt Julie Needelman Stephanie Nelson

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF BEIT ISSIE SHAPIRO West Coast BOARD OF DIRECTORS

First CFS Milestone Brunch Held December 4, 2008 Sharing our success and spearheading our national project.

CO-CHAIRS Errol Fine Marty Spiegel BOARD MEMBERS Mike Diamond Roy Essakow Pat Fine Dr. Eli & Margie Ipp Lee Kapelovitz Dr. Ernie & Frieda Katz Dr. Greg Lee Jack Mayer

Tess Neumann Brandon Neumann Jonah Resnick Elyse Richter Lowell Roth Harel Rush Elena Russo Melissa Schoenfeld Ilana Spiegel Clayton Stone Ariel Strobel Ashley Torkan Uriyah Turkel Addi Weiss Myles Wolfe Hadas Yaffe

Ilana Spiegel creates an activity quilt with her grandmother Marilyn for Ela, a special child at Beit Issie Shapiro, for her Bat Mitzvah project.

Jonah, Zach, and Harris of California, celebrated their B’nai Mitzvah with the special children of Beit Issie Shapiro.

Dr. Shlomo & Ilana Melmed

Dr. Seymour & Carole Perl Lee & Anne Samson Josh & Sari Schechter Eva Tashman Dr. Bruce & Roya Torkan Karen Winnick EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Jean Judes CEO INTERNATIONAL Naomi Stuchiner REGIONAL DIRECTOR Amy Slater-Ovadia NATIONAL DIRECTOR Ed Ward EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, CYCLES FOR SMILES Margie Ipp, Founder Lucienne Adams Audrey Freedman Habush Sigalit Nechemia Carole Perl Mina Rush Bonnie Vorspan

Thank you to Eli & Brittney Adams for raising over $7,000 for the special children of Beit Issie Shapiro. You are the kind of children we should all look up to! We can only imagine what kind of adults you will be! We thank you for being the stars that you are!

Beit Issie Shapiro Update from Executive Director, Jean Judes A National Day of Broadcasts for Beit Issie Shapiro – on the “Middle of the Road” Radio rd Station on the 23 December 2008 A day of national broadcasts took place on the third light of Chanukah on an Israeli regional radio station “Middle of the Road”. The objective was to raise funds for our BIS children with severe disabilities and raise public awareness of those who are different. The day of broadcasting began in the morning with a greeting from the Minister of Welfare and Social Services, Mr. Itzchak Herzog, the Mayor of Raanana, Mr. Nachum Hofri together with Naomi Stuchiner and Caron Bielski (the chairperson of Israel Board). Every hour was then led by leaders in areas such as sport, economics, art and business including Adi Shalev, Nir Bronstein, Kobi Oshrat, Shlomo Sharf and others …. alongside experienced radio broadcasters. The broadcast included personal stories of parents of children with disabilities and interviews with professionals from Beit Issie Shapiro. They raised 560,000shekels! This gives hope that despite the financial crisis, we know the public will not give up on their commitment to our special children. We express a special thanks to Jo Ziv and the members of the Israeli fundraising committee whose vision and commitment makes everything possible!