VIDEOS & PHOTOS: Chai Lifeline Celebrates ‘The Roads to Healing’ At Annual Gala Dinner

[VIDEOS & PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Over 1,100 people joined Chai Lifeline at their Annual Gala Dinner held at the Marriott Marquis. The dinner’s theme, “The Roads to Healing,” highlighted the extraordinarily diverse experiences of the more than 4,300 children and families served by the international organization. “Every family’s journey is unique,” noted Rabbi Simcha Scholar, Chai Lifeline’s executive vice president. “But the one thing that every journey has in common is that Chai Lifeline has made it an easier road to travel.”

Chai Lifeline shows appreciation for alumnus Benji Samet and wife, Raissa

This year’s Gala honored a group of people whose tireless work and support has been as distinctive as they each are. Benji and Raissa Samet were presented with the Camp Simcha Appreciation Award. After four years as a Camp Simcha counselor and a year-round volunteer, Benji transitioned into a dedicated alumnus of the camp staff. Together with his wife, Raissa, Benji has been an integral force in defining ways for alumni to remain involved in the organization. He has taken the lead in creating “Time for Two,” a new program that helps parents de-stress for a few hours by sending them on a “date night” to a New York restaurant or by taking their children for a few hours of a fun activity.

Dr. Richard O’Reilly, Retiring Medical Pioneer, Named Maimonides Legacy Award Recipient

Dr. Richard O’Reilly, chief of pediatrics and the head of the bone marrow transplantation service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, was honored for his career of advancing transplantation and saving young lives. “Though he is retiring from Memorial Sloan Kettering, he leaves a legacy of advances in transplant medicine that has already given so many families a precious gift of life, and is providing the building blocks for more breakthroughs,” Rabbi Scholar noted.

Dr. O’Reilly’s compassion and generosity was noted by master of ceremonies Charlie Harary. “He is well-known to families whose children have had bone marrow transplants, even those whose transplants are performed in other hospitals, as he graciously will talk to anyone in this terrible position,” Harary said.

Drs. Brenda Kohn and Walter Molofsky presented with Medical Leadership Award

A very unusual couple, partners in life and in saving lives, received the Medical Leadership Award. Brenda Kohn, MD is the director of pediatric endocrinology at NYU Langone Medical Center. Her husband, Walter Molofsky, MD, is the medical director of pediatric neurology of the Mount Sinai Medical System, which recently grew to include the Beth Israel Medical Center. The doctors have been staunch supporters of Chai Lifeline since its inception. They understand the impact of Chai Lifeline upon young lives firsthand, as both have patients who are also Chai Lifeline clients.

“In the fall, we hear stories of (our patients’) Camp Simcha experiences. Soon after, they start counting down until they can go back,” Dr. Molofsky explained.

Chai Lifeline parents presented with Chai Heritage Award

Mike and Karen Oz, who discovered Chai Lifeline when their child, Leya, entered The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, received the 2013 Chai Heritage Award. Leya had been in a New York hospital for more than four months when her desperate parents transferred her to CHOP. She was diagnosed with SCID (Severe Combined Immunity Deficiency) and an emergency bone marrow transplant was performed. The Oz family moved to Philadelphia for more than year for Leya’s treatment; Chai Lifeline’s case manager in the hospital was a constant reassuring presence in their lives.

Rabbi Scholar stated that “The supportive relationship between Karen, Mike and Chai Lifeline is really what we are all about. The Oz’s didn’t need a lot of concrete services; what they needed was a hand to hold, a reassuring phone call, a daily visit, reassurances, information, help navigating the hospital system, and hope. The friendship that has grown between us is a result of the supportive relationship that was nurtured during those months.”

Friends and Fun Weekends Dedicated at Event

The event also marked the dedication of Friends ‘N Fun Weekends in memory of Sari Ort, a cherished member of the Chai Lifeline family who lost her battle with cancer.

Sari courageously fought cancer for three years. She spent summers in Camp Simcha and maintained the important friendships with peers and counselors year-round. Her family joined with other Teaneck leaders earlier this year to create a memorable Friends ‘n Fun weekend in the community.

Friends ‘n Fun weekends bring campers together during the year for a booster shot of the confidence, courage, and friendship they experience at Camp Simcha and Camp Simcha Special. They spend a weekend in a community together with their counselors and a medical staff. It gives the community a chance to see Chai Lifeline in action, and to become involved on a grass-roots level.

Capacity crowd Reflects Organization’s Impact, Caseload and Universal Support

The diversity of Chai Lifeline supporters and clients was evident in the crowded Marriott Ballroom. Parents from Williamsburg greeted peers from the Upper East Side, new friends they met in treatment clinics and pediatric specialists’ offices around the greater New York area. Monsey businessmen chatted with Wall Street bankers as they walked together from the reception to the dinner. Master of ceremonies Charlie Harary underscored the all-encompassing nature of Chai Lifeline’s work.

“Through case management, referrals, hospital visits, respite, food, transportation assistance to Big Brothers/Sisters, recreation, sibling programs, counseling, retreats and family celebrations, Chai Lifeline interfaces with children and families from every spectrum of the Jewish community. Regardless of orientation, our families have one very important thing in common: they are all living with pediatric illness. Caring for them…helping them live each day with hope…enabling them to get through the crises and challenges of their lives…that is the mission of Chai Lifeline.”