When a young parent dies, they leave behind a gaping crater in the landscape of their child's world.
Shivah.
Shloshim.
Those first few weeks and months after the parent's loss are like the aftermath of an earthquake. The ground has shifted, nothing feels stable or the same.
As time passes, makeshift workarounds are erected to bridge the gap...
An aunt helps her niece prepare for her first date...
A neighbor offers to take the young boy to shul instead of his father...
A rebbi stops by every week to make Havdalah for the family...
But underneath it all, the void remains.
The empty chair at the Shabbos table becomes a painful symbol of all the experiences the child will never have with their beloved parent.
Visiting day and parent-teacher conferences. Bar mitzvahs and Birkas Kohanim. Siddur plays and graduations. Pesach Seders and upsherins. First day of school and mesivta fathers. Meeting the mechutanim and family trips.
It's an invisible void that makes the pain of loss all the more acute.
Zisel's Links & Shlomie's Club give grieving children a safe space where they can be seen and understood. Staff to support them as they speak and share about the parent they lost, giving them tools to heal and grow. A community of peers who understand what they're going through... because they've been there too.
We have an ever-expanding range of services-weekend retreats, art & music clubs, in-person and Zoom events, monthly publications, therapy referrals, therapy funding, legal & financial services pro bono, an exclusive clothing shop, chassan/kallah programs, and that doesn't even include the many programs built to benefit just one family-because the loss of a parent is felt in every aspect of a child's life.
We can't fill the parent-sized void in the child's life but we can be there for them as they learn to integrate their loss.
Donate today to show bereaved children you care.
Honor the empty chair.
An aunt helps her niece prepare for her first date...
A neighbor offers to take the young boy to shul instead of his father...
A rebbi stops by every week to make Havdalah for the family...
But underneath it all, the void remains.
The empty chair at the Shabbos table becomes a painful symbol of all the experiences the child will never have with their beloved parent.
Visiting day and parent-teacher conferences. Bar mitzvahs and Birkas Kohanim. Siddur plays and graduations. Pesach Seders and upsherins. First day of school and mesivta fathers. Meeting the mechutanim and family trips.
It's an invisible void that makes the pain of loss all the more acute.
Zisel's Links & Shlomie's Club give grieving children a safe space where they can be seen and understood. Staff to support them as they speak and share about the parent they lost, giving them tools to heal and grow. A community of peers who understand what they're going through... because they've been there too.
We have an ever-expanding range of services-weekend retreats, art & music clubs, in-person and Zoom events, monthly publications, therapy referrals, therapy funding, legal & financial services pro bono, an exclusive clothing shop, chassan/kallah programs, and that doesn't even include the many programs built to benefit just one family-because the loss of a parent is felt in every aspect of a child's life.
We can't fill the parent-sized void in the child's life but we can be there for them as they learn to integrate their loss.
Donate today to show bereaved children you care.
Honor the empty chair.
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101 Raisers
Sarah Rivkah Kohn
Total Raised
$128,207Goal:
$75,000
Honestly, this is the time of year that is most hectic for us in the office.
There are Yom Tov gift cards, Daled Minim, a new center we are launching, a pre YT Babka Bake, an Isru Chag event for our Kallos...what can I say? When I began Zisel's Links & Shlomie's Club 16 years ago-- I didn't dream Hashem would gift us with the ability to give hundreds of thousands a year...
And it is not just that. It may be over 30 years since I lost my mother when I was nine years old but the feelings of loneliness are easily accessed and I know I want to do everything in my power to help families feel that someone has their back.
I carry the annual budget of $2.5 million on my shoulders. It is a Zchus to have that responsibility. I also carry the responsibility of the almost 3,000 children we work with who lost a parent. Their pain is not just mine but the whole teams.
Once a year we do this and I will honestly say this: it gives me so much encouragement to see thousands of people come together and say: we got you. Thank you so so much!
There are Yom Tov gift cards, Daled Minim, a new center we are launching, a pre YT Babka Bake, an Isru Chag event for our Kallos...what can I say? When I began Zisel's Links & Shlomie's Club 16 years ago-- I didn't dream Hashem would gift us with the ability to give hundreds of thousands a year...
And it is not just that. It may be over 30 years since I lost my mother when I was nine years old but the feelings of loneliness are easily accessed and I know I want to do everything in my power to help families feel that someone has their back.
I carry the annual budget of $2.5 million on my shoulders. It is a Zchus to have that responsibility. I also carry the responsibility of the almost 3,000 children we work with who lost a parent. Their pain is not just mine but the whole teams.
Once a year we do this and I will honestly say this: it gives me so much encouragement to see thousands of people come together and say: we got you. Thank you so so much!
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