By Linda Delmonico-Prussen
Part of the money raised will go to buy a computer for a boy, also 13, who was left as a paraplegic because of a terrorist attack in Israel.
The computer, which costs about $2,500, will enable the boy to type letters by blowing into a tube that eliminates the need for a keyboard.
Evan, an eighth-grader at Solomon Schechter School in Glen Cove, originally set out to raise enough for the computer. Once he started, however, he realized that he wanted to and could do even more.
"I'm extraordinarily proud of him," said Evan's mother, Donna Stein.
The Merrick Kiwanis Club thought so much of Evan's actions that it recently honored him with its Youth Humanitarian Award.
Jeffrey Tabman, chairperson and creator of the award,
said of Evan, "I listened to him speak and it brought tears to my eyes." The award was created, Tabman said, "to catch children in the act of kindness, without expectation of reward." Tabman hopes Evan's volunteer spirit will inspire other children to make a difference in people's lives.
Evan's mother found the Israel Emergency Solidarity Fund and went with Evan there to buy $5 memorial bracelets that Evan would then sell. Each silver cuff bracelet has the name and age of a terror victim, hence the term memorial bracelet.
"He would go to the bagel stores Sunday morning" to
sell the bracelets, his mother said. Evan said he would arrive at Bagel Boss and Bagel Plaza, both in Merrick, or Town Bagels in Bellmore at 6:45 a.m. on Sundays and stay to 10 or 11 a.m. chatting with people and selling the bracelets.
Not content to limit his sales to the bagel stores, Evan also sold the bracelets at his school during plays and over the Internet with a list of his father's business contacts. People wanting to contribute would mail Evan a check, and he would send them a bracelet.
"It took a lot of commitment from him," his mother said. "It's not always easy to speak to strangers," adding, "He gave up a lot of Sunday mornings."
When Evan speaks of the project, though, he doesn't talk about what he gave up but rather what he gained. "I wanted to make a difference," he said.
He also said that a bar mitzvah should not be just a big party. He sees projects like the one he was required to do as positive. "I think it's good because you're making a difference in someone's life," he said.
Anyone wishing to nominate another young person for the Merrick Kiwanis Youth Humanitarian Award should write a letter explaining what the child, up to age 18, has done to deserve the honor. Parents, teachers, neighbors or anyone believing they know a young person who should be recognized may nominate a child. Nominating letters should be mailed to Merrick Kiwanis Club, P.O. Box 108, Merrick, N.Y. 11566, attention Jeffrey Tabman.
