JUNE 30 • 2022 | 17

doctor appointments our 
son Dovid needed, and the 
KKC program allowed Zevi 
to just be able to grow and 
thrive through all the online 
events,” Sruly explains. 
“And that was amazing to 
us to be able and give him 
that time.”

TEEN EMPOWERMENT 
For many older children, 
both former cancer 
survivors, their siblings 
and others, the lessons 
developed in the KKC 
arsenal of programs 
have long-term benefits, 
which was the impetus for 
developing programming 
uniquely designed for 
this demographic, Cohen 
emphasizes.
About a half-dozen 
attendees of this program 
participated in the event. 
One veteran, 18-year-old 
Haley Wallace, who has been 
a Heroes Circle participant 
for 10 years, explained 
how Kids Kicking Cancer 
impacted her when she first 
received her cancer diagnosis 
as a child.
“KKC has done a lot for 
me over the years,” Wallace, 
a rising senior at Madison 
High School in Adrian, says. 
“It made me feel like I was 
actually part of a community 
when no one else wanted 
to be around me because 
of cancer, since kids think 
cancer is contagious, and it’s 
terrible. 
“But it also taught me how 
to learn and relax and deal 
with stress.”
After all the belts and 
certificates hoopla, attendees 
participated in a KKC’s 

signature “Breath Brake,” 
taking in and exhaling 
several deep breaths while 
repeating the mantra “power, 
peace, purpose,” led by the 
organization’s founder, Rabbi 
Elimelech Goldberg. 
Wallace closed the event 
with a rendition of Elton 
John’s 1983 hit, “I’m Still 
Standing.”
“Every belt is a sign of 
power, but the kids are not 
just powerful martial artists,” 
Rabbi Goldberg explains. 
“They are breathing in light, 
pushing out darkness. So 
that’s peace. And what’s the 
purpose? Ask any kid here 
and they’ll tell you: to teach 
the world.” 

ABOVE: Despite threatening 
skies, parents and children 
attended Kids Kicking Cancer’s 
annual Belting Ceremony held on 
the grounds of Temple Beth El in 
Bloomfield Township. 
RIGHT: Heila Benjamin, 4, of 
Southfield proudly receives her 
yellow belt at KKC’s 22nd annual 
Belting Ceremony.

