NEW YORK — In a warehouse in Borough Park, Brooklyn, dedicated Chai Lifeline volunteers sift through mountains of toys to find the right toys to send to children struggling with life-threatening or lifelong illnesses.
“Hanukkah is a time when we celebrate the power of how a little light can really illuminate a lot of darkness. Sickness is darkness. Death is darkness. And when you bring a spark of light… it creates such warmth and such realm.” It proves that it really is life-changing for a child,” said Rabbi Simcha Scholar, CEO of Chai Lifeline, which works nationally to provide support and care to people who could use a dose of holiday cheer.
The donations go to children who are sick and to all their brothers and sisters, but also to households where a parent is sick. Chai Lifeline also supports siblings of children who have died as a result of their illness.
Annual Hanukkah toy drive held for over 30 years
For more than thirty years, Chai Lifeline’s annual Toy Drive has been working to bring some Hanukkah hope to families like the Binets. Two of their sons were diagnosed with glycogen storage disease, which requires special feeding every three hours to maintain their blood sugar levels.
“They probably knew what it meant to be brave before they knew what it meant to be happy, because they always said, ‘Chai Lifeline is proud of us, that we are brave,’” says Perry Binet, a mother of three children from States. Island.
Chai Lifeline estimates that more than 50,000 gifts will go to families across the country this year. The organization works on the basis of wish lists submitted by the children and does its utmost to purchase the gifts requested by the families.
“When you feel so loved, it’s a little hard to be in a bad mood,” says Binet.
“We have volunteers, hundreds of high school students who come here every night after school until about 1 a.m. to pack the boxes,” said Bracha Mandel, program director.
Those volunteers include Chani Traub, who, together with her children, has donated countless hours to the organization for years.
“It takes about six to seven weeks, but we have girls now that come around the clock in the evenings, we work in the evenings, they’re here all the time. They’re great,” Traub said.
Hanukkah begins at sunset on December 25.
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