TEENAGERS NORMA J. COHEN AND MARLENE EPSTEIN CAME TO DSN WITH IDEAS FOR OFFERING INSPIRATIONAL HESED OPPORTUNITIES ON THE JERSEY SHORE. THEY WANTED DSN INVOLVED BECAUSE THEY SAW THE ORGANIZATION AS BEING ORGANIZED, EFFICIENT AND STELLAR EXECUTIONERS.
Norma reflected, “Throughout my high school years, hesed has been imbedded into my everyday life. My younger sisters were intrigued by all that I was doing and were always enthusiastic about tagging along. This opened my eyes to the overwhelming need for the youth in Deal to get involved and give back as well. My uncle, Eric Epstein, and DSN President, Lee Zekaria, helped make this happen at DSN. We formed a committee and came together to plan. DSN has been incredible and instrumental. With the help of DSN’s Frieda Shamah, we have run many successful events ranging from targeting 3rd graders through high schoolers and now even adults.”
In November, the committee put together two fantastic “Hesed 365” events. One was a night of inspiration for 50 high school girls with guest speakers: Mrs. Mozelle Safdieh, Mrs. Rosy Shamah and Mrs. Danielle Sitt. The theme of the night was happiness and gratitude and how it can be applied to one’s everyday life. During the evening, the girls made care packages for hospital patients by packaging lotion, toothpaste, toothbrushes, cards, and other necessities. One hundred care packages were delivered to Monmouth Medical Hospital.
The most recent event was a Hanukkah donut/sufganiyot themed Babka making class with Naomi Elberg. All babkas were delivered to seniors in the community. At the same event, fifty 6th grade girls collected toy donations for children, which were delivered to Monmouth Medical Hospital for Hanukkah.
Frieda Shamah noted, “These were such lovely events, envisioned by our hesed committee. Helping those in need is one of the greatest mitzvot and I am fortunate to work with young people who have such beautiful ideas. There is no other community like ours!”
Other events this year included a high school challah bake, a large-scale mother/daughter event with inspirational speaker Charlene Aminoff, and senior-gifting where girls made and delivered calsones for the holidays. Marlene Epstein, shared, “I love seeing the young girls in our community come together to do hesed and have a good time. This is top priority.”
Eric Epstein is thrilled to see the success. “It’s amazing what these teenage leaders have accomplished. By giving their time to people and causes that need them most, this Hesed 365 program has given our teens a sense of purpose, allowing them to get out of their comfort zones and interact with different people and make new connections. Our community is so fortunate in so many ways and giving back and exposing our youth to those who are less fortunate or have different life circumstances is one of the best things we can do.”
DSN’s Executive Director Sammy Sitt sees the big picture. “We all know that hesed is a core value of our community. We are honored to add hesed programming to our growing list of departments, especially when it means that we are inspiring our teenagers. May Hashem continue to bless DSN to do more and more for our amazing community!”
