Pnina Souid
Very recently, the following letter arrived in the Mitzvah Man Organization’s mailbox.
Hi Mitzvah Man Volunteers!
My name is Jennifer Levi*. I work one-on-one with a ten-year-old boy at a school for special needs children. He struggles in his learning and finds many activities to be challenging. I got to know him very well and I invest a lot in him. I try to make sure that he is happy. However, there are times when it is hard for him to show his happiness.
His birthday was coming up and I wanted to make it a special and memorable day for him. It took a few days of thinking about what kind of birthday treat would be over the top.
I know that he loves cars. Nothing seems to make him happy except for sports cars. Corvettes are his favorite. His dream is to buy one in the future. He also enjoys Lego and is artistic, too. I had a few ideas of what to buy him, but I decided that I wanted to do something exciting, something he’ll remember, not just buy something for him to play with.
Finally, I thought of an amazing idea. I would rent a sports car for the day and have him get a ride in it. However, when I saw the prices, I realized it would not work.
I am familiar with the Mitzvah Man Organization and thought that maybe they would be able to help me out, even though I knew that they were involved in a different type of hesed. I called the Mitzvah Man hotline and left a message on the answering machine. I will never forget the results of that call.
Less than an hour later, a Mitzvah Man volunteer called me back. He said that they would love to help me. They would send messages out to their volunteer contact list and get back to me. Soon after, I received a call from the Mitzvah Man with two phone numbers of volunteers who had the exact cars that my student loves! A Porsche convertible and a Corvette! The volunteers were so excited to be part of this hesed. They made it sound like I was doing a hesed for them and not the other way around.
I was told that a volunteer who works out of Florida and owns a Ferrari and a Lamborghini offered the family an all-expense paid trip to Florida, and he would drive them around in his sports cars. However, the decision was made to gracefully decline this very generous offer.
On the day of my student’s birthday, the Mitzvah Man volunteers showed up and gave him the time of his life! One man even brought him a Lego set!
They were so eager to fulfill the hesed of making my student happy. How great and empathetic is our community!
This is something my student will never forget for the rest of his life. He mentions it almost every day. Talking and thinking about it makes him happy and excited.
Thank you, Mitzvah Man and your selfless volunteers, in helping make a struggling child’s dream a reality!
*Name has been changed.