Mitzvah Man Helps Hands On for Children

What happens when two incredible organizations join forces and work together? What happens when the Mitzvah Man and Hands On for Children unite to make a difference? The result is a tremendous Kiddush Hashem and a tribute to true hesed.

The Mitzvah Man is familiar to most because of his wonderful program. Now he has taken on a very unique project.

Hands On for Children is an organization helping children and families with cancer by easing the burden of child care for families struggling with illness.

One aspect of the program involves coordinating shifts to the hospital so parents can have much needed respite. In order to make the child feel comfortable and to establish a relationship of trust, each family is connected to the same few volunteers again and again until they become like family. The goal is to help those in need by forming deep, enduring relationships with families so that volunteers can clearly discern their needs.

What makes Hands on For Children unique is that the organization is specifically not geared to large, attention-grabbing events. If siblings or a patient need a private weekly outing, it’s arranged without photos or fanfare.

But without fanfare how are the considerable financial outlays covered?

Patients and friends testify to the incredible devotion of Hands On for Children. But the organization needed someone dynamic who believed in their ideals and passion—a person of tremendous power, to propel us forward as we focus on helping families. The volunteers at Hands On for Children heard about the legendary Mitzvah Man whose name is familiar to everyone in need.

In the words of the founder and director, Yenti Frost, “Mitzvah Man is truly incredible. I emailed him about helping us with our organization. Three seconds after I pressed the ‘send’ key there was a response.”

“Yes I would like to help,” he said. And with those few words, a complete movement was set in motion at an awe-inspiring, mind boggling pace. The Mitzvah Man got a group of volunteers together one night to hear about the program from Yenti. The spirit and energy in the air was truly electric. The voice level was high as everyone shared their ideas, creativity and energy, setting up an awesome planned community event.

And it did not end there. Mitzvah Man reached out to his crew and food was donated by a community restaurant to families whose children were inpatient—a tasty break from the routine suppers.

Also, one of the Hands On kids Esther, wanted to join a different group trip to Orlando. She was crestfallen when the doctors said that her radiation treatments could not be interrupted for the planned group trip.

One volunteer, a special friend of Esther’s who accompanied her to treatment that day, saw the dejected look on her face told her, “Don’t worry—we will make it happen.”

Although Orlando trips are not specifically part of Hands On for Children’s mission statement, doing whatever it takes to make children happy is. The trip was mentioned to the Mitzvah Man. Most unbelievably, most incredibly, most extraordinarily, he arranged many aspects of this fun-filled trip to Disney. This included airfare, park hoppers, food, and even a camcorder to record each memorable moment of a joyous journey amidst an arduous struggle with cancer.

When the Mitzvah Man, who is fully devoted to others, joins with an organization devoted to cancer patients, the combination is truly wonderful and unique.