24 | JUNE 3 • 2021 

H

illel Day School and 
JARC are wrapping up 
another successful year 
of their outreach program, where 
Hillel seventh-grade students 
meet and connect with people 
JARC serves once a month. The 
program has been going strong for 
more than 30 years now, with the 
pandemic only serving as a slight 
detour from the norm. 
The program begins in 
December and runs through May 
every year, with Hillel students 
partnering with the group homes. 
“The kids really form a relation-
ship, friendship and connection 
with the people in that home as 
we progress through the year,
” said 
Leslie Baron, program coordinator 
at Hillel Day School. 

The first event of the program 
is a bingo night, typically taking 
place at Hillel. Other monthly 
events include the kids going 
directly to the JARC homes for 
activities.
“In the women’s home, they love 
to have manicures or bake cook-
ies; in the men’s home, they like to 
play Nintendo Wii games and also 
to bake,
” said Baron, who’s been
involved with the program for 18 
years. 
One of the monthly events 
also includes a bowling event at 
Langan’s Nor-west Lanes, which 
was the only event they couldn’t 
make happen this year. 
With the pandemic, everything 
in the program has been done vir-
tually, with Hillel kids and JARC 

clients coming together on Zoom. 
Not being able to mingle for 
in-person activities, the two sides 
have had to be creative, participat-
ing in virtual charades, Pictionary 
and talent shows.
“For our kids, it’s a lot about 
empathy, inclusiveness and really 
appreciating a person for who 
they are,
” Baron said.
Andy Tukel, a former Hillel 
student and Hillel/JARC program 
participant, said his time in the 
program motivated him to further 
delve into volunteerism.
“I thought it was a really good 
experience; you can see how 
happy you make everyone just 
by participating and having fun,
” 
Tukel said. 
“I think it’s really important 
because it teaches the Hillel kids 
compassion and patience,
” Tukel 
added. “I got to see how some-
thing that may seem so easy and 

small like running a bingo event 
or playing board games can have 
such a big impact.
” 
JARC CEO Shaindle Braunstein 
has had similar experiences as 
Baron and Tukel.
“What we found — beyond it 
being new faces for our people 
to meet or another activity — is 
we’ve really been able to open 
the eyes of the students to what 
it means to be a person with a 
disability and really understand 
in real life what inclusion means,
” 
Braunstein said.
“We are all people, we all have 
the right to be loved and includ-
ed and engaged, and I think the 
teens are demonstrating this. 
They’re not coming in and work-
ing for persons served by JARC, 
they’re bonding and connecting 
with them on a person-to-per-
son level.” 

OUR COMMUNITY

Hillel students and JARC residents together pre-pandemic.

Hillel Day School students
bond with JARC residents.

30-Year Success

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

AJC Launches #WheresTheOutrage

Amidst a new spike in physical 
attacks on Jews, American Jewish 
Committee (AJC) has launched 
#WheresTheOutrage, a social media 
campaign that aims to mobilize people 
of good will to speak out against the 
horrific targeting of Jews.
“The number of Jews attacked on 
the streets of New York, Los Angeles, 
Seattle, Miami, Chicago and other U.S. 
cities is growing,” said AJC CEO David 
Harris. 
“Antisemitism, the world’s oldest hatred, 
is not solely a Jewish problem. It is a 
societal problem, and we urge elected 
officials, civic leaders and others to stand 

up and speak out. History has taught us 
that silence and indifference are never the 
answer.”
 AJC is encouraging individuals to post 
#WheresTheOutrage on social media and 
take these actions against antisemitism:

• Contact elected officials — mem-
bers of Congress, governors, mayors — 
to urge them, if they haven’t yet done 
so, to take a stand clearly and unequiv-
ocally against antisemitism in their 
communities and nationally.
• Contact local media outlets and 
urge them to cover antisemitic attacks.
• Contact non-Jewish organizations 
and partners and ask them to publicly 
support the Jewish community now.
In addition, visitors to 
#WheresTheOutrage on the AJC website 
are encouraged to complete a form to 
describe why and how they are speaking 
out against antisemitism. 

