Tell us about your nominee. Why should he or she be recognized as a Jewish Community Hero?
Rabbi Levi Shemtov together with his wife Bassie founded and run the ever growing Friendship Circle, an International organization dedicated to Children with special needs and their families. This remarkable organization has engaged thousands of teens across the country in community service by volunteering for the friendship circle and pairing with children with special needs. Rabbi Shemtov has been a innovative leader in filling this gap in the community by both giving selflessly to the thousands who are affected by children with special needs and giving them friendship and love and training the youth of this generation to give back to the community with the best of Jewish values and ideals.
What problem did your nominee identify in the community that needed to be solved? How has your nominee's efforts made a difference for others?
Rabbi Shemtov found that families with special needs children needed special attention and care, that was not the focus of any community organization or group. Since its inception in the suburb of West Bloomfield, Mich., in 1994, the Friendship Circle has grown to include more than 70 chapters around the world. Teens Volunteer weekly to play, entertain, teach and share friendship with a child of Special needs in the community. The Friendship circle rewards the teens with innovative programming, leadership skills and selfless involvement in the community. The Children of special needs feel loved and cared for and the families have much needed free time when the volunteers come to visit. The Shemtovs have also brought the unique needs of caring for the added burden of these families to the forefront of the community across the country. The founding Friendship Circle branch includes the recently-built 23,000-square-foot Ferber Kaufman LifeTown Center, which has won national recognize for the centerpiece Weinberg Village, a life-size mockup of a town square where children and teenagers with special needs from public and private schools around the city can practice the skills necessary for independent living.
