GROUND
BREAKING

Synagogue
Campus
of Living
Judaism

Honoring the brieit
of the
blinder
of Blessed Memory

Sunday, July 2,
Tammuz 4

otu 5, 0( ak(

Chief llohhi of Ism
11Rhhi isnot Lau

Preschoolers Learn
Tzedakah And Differences

JENNIFER FINER STAFF WRITER

s soon as Sarah Richards
walked into the Temple
Emanu-El nursery-school
class, a crowd of curious
children gathered around the 2
1/2-year-old girl. Sarah hung
close to her mother.
"What's that?" some asked,
pointing to her arm which is
fitted with a myoelectric pros-
thesis.

A

Karren Richard, of Oak Park,
told the students her daughter
was born without a forearm and
hand. She told them what they
saw worked like the arms and
hands they were born with. Jor-
dan Silver and his classmates
thought it was "neat."
On Monday, after the inquisi-
tive preschoolers met Sarah and
after her shyness disappeared,
they presented a
$110 donation to Va-
riety — the Chil-
dren's Charity.
These preschool-
ers, in the temple's
Caterpillar and Su-
perstar classes,
spent much of the
year raising money
for their tzedakah
project.
Their teachers
chose Variety be-
cause of Sarah, who
with her mother,
was enrolled in the
temple's parent-tod-
dler program. The
charity helps fund its
Myoelectric Center,

Right:
Sarah, with her mom
Karren, shows
preschoolers her
prosthetic arm.

Below:
Sarah and her mom,
Karren Richard,
surrounded by generous
preschoolers.

at the Rehabilitation Institute of
Michigan. The center fits children
with prosthese and provides nec-
essary occupational therapy and
counseling to clients. Its brochure
highlights a picture of Sarah and
her prosthetic arm.
"Our children see where their
money is going," said Rena Co-
hen, a co-director of the school.
"They aren't giving money
without seeing what it is used for.
The focus of our tzedakah pro-

"Our children see
where their money is
going."

— Rena Cohen

gram is to allow students to get
involved with the people who
benefit from their actions."
Inviting Sarah also teaches the
children to be accepting of peo-
ple's differences, said co-director
Michaelyn Silverman. "Sarah
will be part of our nursery school
and we thought it would be nice
to create a comfortable environ-
ment from the beginning," Ms.
Silverman said.
Sarah, an otherwise healthy
child, is enrolled in the temple's
preschool beginning next year
and looks forward to attending.
"Sarah doesn't get special
treatment," Mrs. Richard said.
"She is treated like any other
child, including timeouts."

❑

PHOTOS BY GLENN TR IEST

SAVE THE DATE!

