A group of Washington University students was honored for time well spent with COAST, a program that brings together special needs children and college kids for Jewish connections and growth. COAST, which ran during the 2011-2012 school year, paired special needs children with undergraduates for one-on-one Jewish learning and experiences tailored to their abilities and interests.
Chabad-Lubavitch emissary Chana Novack, director of operations for Chabad on Campus serving Washington University in S. Louis, nominated the volunteer program for the Unsung Heroes Award. The honor is coordinated through local media outlet Oy! Magazine and its parent Jewish newspaper, the S. Louis Jewish Light.
COAST is run in conjunction with Ohr Atid, a S. Louis non-profit that provides support for special needs children in the local Jewish community. For about two hours a week, the college students and their elementary school counterparts met, mostly at the Chabad House, for projects and games.
This year’s pilot program had four children and four university participants.
“It was really a wonderful experience,” Novack said, adding that kids went home singing Jewish songs, knowing about the holidays, and with a new friend in their lives. “The college students really created beautiful relationships with the kids, the families and each other.”
Volunteer Ari Rosenstrauch, who starts his junior year in the fall, said he saw a posting by peer Sarah Lavin on an area Jewish message board and wrote in right away. Having done special needs work in the past with Chabad’s Friendship Circle in his New Jersey hometown, among other programs, he said he finished his freshman year and wanted to get back into it.
He was paired with a young man whose family he remains in contact with – he was invited for a meal at their home over Passover and was recently working to schedule times he and his friend could play basketball or racquetball over the summer.
“It’s always nice to take time out of your day to help someone else out,” Rosenstrauch said. “It helps you put your life into perspective.”
For Elan Baskir, who just finished his freshman year, it was worth it to get out of bed on Sunday mornings and head over to the Chabad House.
“I felt like a lot of the things I did in college were for me,” he said, talking about the various elements of collegiate life such as working to get good grades and hanging out. “I feel like COAST helped me realize what’s important. It helped me give back.”
Together, he and his COAST buddy made a binder they filled with pages about the holidays and weekly Torah portions. Baskir tried to relate what they learned to subjects his friend was already interested in. That meant the movie “Spy Kids 2,” he said.
His pal is moving to Australia over the summer, so at his parents’ request, they worked together on a simple play he’d created that focused on the Hebrew language. It caught the young man’s interest.
Baskir hopes to take part in the program again next year, and said he would encourage others to participate as well.
“It’s a great way to feel like a kid again, where there’s no social expectations from anyone,” he said. “We played hopscotch – when was the last time you played hopscotch?”
As for the award, he said he was glad to see the program get noticed, and looks forward to seeing it continue to expand.
“While we don’t do COAST for recognition, I think it’s great that the Jewish community thought of us that highly to bestow us with the award,” he said.
The school year wound down with a small banquet for volunteers and families, and they’re hoping to get the word out so that more families and students will participate next year.
“There’s a list of volunteers who are waiting for the opportunity to work with one of these children,” said Novack. “My biggest hope is that the families who can benefit from our program reach out to us and we can grow.”
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