(Courtesy of Chabad of Passaic) On Tuesday evening, May 28, The Chabad Center of Passaic County held its annual evening of awards at Club Vibe, 92 NJ-23, Riverdale, New Jersey. Volunteers were honored for their hours of giving to the Friendship Circle, Heart to Heart, CTeen and CTeen Junior. Among the honorees were our Above and Beyond Recipients: Emily Bolson, Danielle Cohen, Sara Frommer, Luke Kaplan, Noah Kaplan, Emma Kissel, Emma Lehman, Skylar Levitt, Sydney Levitt, Emily Nolan, Ella Rudd, Brett Tomback, Sammie Tomback, Skyler Weaver and Faith Weisberg of Wayne, and Joshua Arochas, Sara Frenkel, Sheffah Greenspan, Yehoshua Markowitz, Hadas Naftali, Basya Ochs of Passaic/Clifton. There was an induction of our new Friendship Circle Presidents, Alex Abrams and Ashley Goldberg of Wayne and Rebecca Bral and Rena Cohen of Passaic. Special awards of the evening went to Rebecca Bral and Bobby Farulla.

Kerry Magro was the guest speaker. Magro is an award-winning professional speaker and best-selling author who is on the autism spectrum. Magro is CEO and president of KFM Making a Difference, a nonprofit organization that hosts inclusion events and has provided many scholarships for students with autism.

Friendship Circle is a meaningful program that reaches out and extends warmth and friendship to children with special needs and their families. Heart to Heart provides a monthly volunteer opportunity for middle school-aged children. Volunteers gather monthly at Siena Village, a local seniors housing facility. CTeen and CTeen Junior’s innovative programs nurture positive Jewish identity, and help teens stand above societal pressures and channel their energy through positive mediums.

For more information on how you can become a volunteer, or if you know a family that could benefit from our services, please call 973-694-6274