At the event, 13 local teens were honored for taking of their personal time to visit children with special needs throughout the year.
“The teens in the Birmingham are amazing,” said Rabbi Levi Weinbaum, director of the Friendship Circle of Alabama. “By last year’s dinner, we were celebrating 3 teen volunteers who went to visit 2 children from the community, and just a year later we are celebrating 13 teens who visit 7 children in the community!”
“The teens here really understand what it means to give of themselves, and the responsibility that they exhibit is unprecedented,” he said.
The teens led the dinner, and proudly told their parents and supporters about the service they did and what an impact it made on their lives.
“After my first visit with my special buddy,” Jake, one of the teens, said, “I realized I was part of something powerful, something bigger than I, something that could make a huge impact on someone’s life. I realized that I wasn’t a part of the Friendship Circle for a new iPad or a piece of paper that says I have worked X amount of hours. As any teen in Friendship Circle will tell you, we’re a part of Friendship Circle to help others and to provide one of the best things in life, friendship.”
One of the special children who had been visited by Friendship Circle volunteers over the past two years came up and spoke about what a difference his friends made in his life, and presented them with awards.
The crowd was then entertained by Mark Johnson, a mentalist from Atlanta.
Next year the Friendship Circle of Alabama will grow even bigger, with 25 teens set to visit 11 special children throughout Birmingham.
Friendship Circle is under the auspices of Chabad of Alabama, under the leadership of Rabbi Yossi Posner.
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