Left: Hallie Isaacs tosses
a yellow ball.

Below: Denise Daskal
reads a prayer.

0

n Dec. 7, the JCC and the
Jewish Association for Resi-
dential Care's Keshet pro-
gram teamed up to put on
the Maccabee Mitzvah Party.
"We were so excit-
ed how successful it
was," said Keshet Pro-
gram Coordinator
Shirlee Wyman Har-
ris. "We had over 100
people there."
The Ke- shet Pro-
gram provides sup-
port for parents of
special needs children.
The Maccabee Mitz*
vah Party was part or
the JCC Sweating for
Tzedakah program. The party was
organized by Harris and Amy Seid-
man, head of the JCC special needs
department.
"Amy and I were going to do the
party anyway, and it happened to be a
part of the rest week's program," Har-
ris said.
What especially pleased Harris wa ste
the turnout from parents who brought
their kids who didn't have disabilities.
"It was a community-wide
Chanukah party, not just a special
needs program," Harris said.
The kids were supervised by volun-
teers from the Daniel Sobel Friend-
ship Circle and Children's Circle,
both organizations that provide one- L
on-one assistance to children with
disabilities.
'Amy had worked with some of the
kids before, and the Friendship Circle
meets on Sundays, so it worked per-
fectly," Harris said.
The cost to attend the program was
$5 and a non-perishable food item for
Yad Ezra, or a food item and a book
or toy for Children's Circle.

❑

Greg Miller with his children, Sam and Aviva.

ICC Chanukah party
unites kids with and without disabilities.

LONNY GOLDSMITH Staff Writer

BILL HANSEN Photographer

12/12
1997

22

Blake Zukar hears his voice amplified.