On November 3, more than 250 friends of JF&CS Services for People with Disabilities gathered at the Four Seasons Hotel Boston for the 2011 CHAI Celebration. We were thrilled to honor Ellie & Barry Shrage with the CHAI Community Leadership Award for their dedication and advocacy for people with disabilities in our community. We are very grateful to the CJP Next Generation Team who co-chaired the event. Together, they raised more than $16,000 to support CHAI.
One of the highlights of the evening was hearing from two wonderful speakers who receive services from the CHAI program - Julie Belsky and Matthew Wellins. Julie works and lives independently with minimal support from JF&CS staff. She shared her pride in her accomplishments and is clearly a wonderful role model. Matthew described his participation in CHAI Works and his dream of moving out of his parents' home and living in a CHAI residence with people his own age.
Nancy Belsky led a compelling Call to Action with 78% of the guests making a financial contribution that evening. Sixteen guests made pledges to support our monthly CHAI Shabbat dinners. We are proud to name these dinners in honor of Ellie & Barry Shrage for the next two years. If you are interested in supporting one of these dinners, please contact Lorraine Levine.
While this event happens only once every two years, there are always opportunities to get involved with JF&CS Disabilities programs. For more information, please contact Betsy Closs at bcloss@jfcsboston.org or 781-693-5697.
