Ruthie (left), Diana and Nellie Harris, Solomon Schechter middle school's dean
On October 30th I received this email from Sandra Ward Costin of White Plains NY:
My daughter Diana is having her Bat Mitzvah in January 2010 and she has been looking for a Mitzvah project. When we found your web site she got very excited as this seemed like a Mitzvah she could relate to. It will combine her love of Israel with Tzedakah and quite frankly her love of a good party! She would like to do a fundraiser to support the great work you are doing. Diana's plan is to sell birthday party rubber duckies at school and our synagogue and donate the proceeds to your organization. Because Diana reads and writes in Hebrew it might be nice for her to get to correspond with some of the children who receive parties -- if that is possible -- thanks in advance for your help -- and keep up the great work you are doing.
On November 30th I went to visit the Solomon Schechter Day School in White Plains NY to speak about Birthday Angels. There I met Diana and the children from her school. It was very exciting for me to meet this young girl. I even bought a Birthday Duck from her and encouraged her fellow school mates to do the same. It was very exciting for me to meet her in person and I was surprised to see how young she was considering what a huge thing she was doing.
On December 17th I received this email from her mother Sandra:
Diana had her first big fund raiser and sold her ducks at a Hanukkah workshop at our synagogue -- she has raised over $500! She would like to do another duck sale in the spring so we can see how many more kids she can help! Thanks so much -- Diana has learned a lot from working on this and she is very excited about hearing from the kids who have parties too!
It's not every day that you meet such inspired young people who manage to make such a huge difference in this world.
