Five Towns JCC honors a quintet of volunteers

Volunteers are a huge part of the programs and services provided by the JCC of the Greater Five Towns and at its annual meeting on June 27, the Cedarhurst-based organization took the time to honor five volunteers, Jonah “J.J.” Goldstein, Arielle Bitton, Michal Hubert, Shari Hymowitz and Allen Fisher.

Also at the meeting, Woodmere resident Arnold Waldman was sworn in as president of the JCC’s Board of Directors and Dr. Kenneth Berman was named chairman of the Board.

Goldstein, who lives in Cedarhurst, attended the JCC’s Early Childhood Center, and this year he volunteered at JCC’s Nursery School, where he played and bonded with the young children. He is currently a student at Kulanu’s Center for Special Services in Cedarhurst.

Bitton, a resident of Hewlett, who will be attending the University of Maryland in the fall, has been a volunteer in the JCC’s Children with Special Needs Department for the past five years, working with children in the Social Skills, Music and Movement and ETGAR sports Challenge programs.

Her enjoyment came from working with the program for autistic children at the JCC, which included playing games and sports, doing puzzles and taking part in , group discussions.

“I would work with the same kids and I thought it was amazing that I got to see them actually improve a lot; some I worked with the whole five years so I would see them grow and get better,” Bitton said.

She also worked with ADD and ADHD children this year. With this group, “we played group games so they could learn to cooperate with each other and concentrate on doing one thing at a time.”

Bitton was an ambassador for the JCC’s Youth Leadership Conference in Bulgaria as part of the Tri Center Initiative the JCC is involved with. She attended a camp in Bulgaria where there is an emerging Jewish community that serves to unite the young Jewish people there.

“We learned about their camp in Bulgaria, their community and what they’ve done and we shared what it is like living in a community here [in the Five Towns] that has already been here for a long time,” said Bitton. “There’s a big difference; we are used to being surrounded by Jews and being accepted for it,” while the Jewish people at the camp in Bulgaria have been repressed and now suddenly feel like they are united and accepted.”

Hubert, a resident of North Woodmere, works with the JCC’s Children After School Department. She designed a 10-week program syllabus of creative and educational art projects for disadvantaged 5- to 7-year-old children, with classes meeting on Sunday mornings. The course began with six registered children and by the end of the program there were 13 attendants. Hubert also recruited two friends to volunteer and assist with the program.

Hymowitz, who lives in Hewlett, works with the food bank arm of the JCC, delivering non-perishable food packages to people in the Five Towns who can’t get it themselves such as the disabled, poor or elderly. She has been part of this program for about two years.

“I am privileged that I don’t have these problems so it is something easy I can do, that for someone else is really hard; I think that when you have privileges it’s always a good thing to try to give back,” Hymowitz said. The people who need food delivered to them call her, and she picks up the food and gets it to them.

Fisher, a resident of North Woodmere, volunteers twice a week at the JCC’s support program for people with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and the activity center for people with Parkinson’s disease.

A retired guidance counselor who is people oriented, Fisher began volunteering because he wanted to do something that has value, he said. “With the Parkinson’s disease group sometimes I’ll perform with my guitar; we’ll sing some songs,” Fisher said. These songs are usually relevant to the daily lives of program participants or about the seasons and upcoming holidays.

The Parkinson’s group also discusses current events, and he also performs for the TBI group. In addition, he helps serve lunch and engages them in conversations. “I just try to be friendly a voice they can listen to and open up too,” he said.

Fisher said he enjoys his experiences at the JCC and the opportunity to talk to people who face adversity in their lives. He admires their strength. “They are able to come to the groups even with these handicaps and it gives me a good feeling to speak with them and do whatever I can for them,” said Fisher.