Chai Lifeline Queens Dinner Fetes Rowe Family

(Queens, NY, December 19, 2007) The Queens community came out in force to show their support for Chai Lifeline and pay tribute to community leaders Yitschok and Dena Rowe. The Fifth Annual Queens Appreciation Dinner, held at Terrace on the Park on December 18th, drew more than 450 friends and supporters of the organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of families living with serious pediatric illness.

Mr. and Mrs. Rowe were honored for their extraordinary commitment to chesed, exemplified by Yitschok’s service to Hatzolah and the couple’s love for Chai Lifeline’s children. Speaking for his family, Mr. Rowe said, “Chai Lifeline goes past what people need to get by. They understand that it is the extra touch that makes people feel so good. So that’s why they give.” Rabbi Simcha Scholar, executive vice president, lauded the men and women whose devotion has led to programs like the annual New Roc City Family Day. This event, which gives Chai Lifeline families a day together at one of the area’s largest indoor amusement parks, is eagerly anticipated by families throughout the New York area.

“The Queens community is filled with people who share our mission and whose dedication to our children has led them to become partners in important programs and initiatives,” Rabbi Scholar said. He thanked four families for being leaders among leaders: the Wertenteil family, who dedicated Louis Wertenteil Heart to Heart, Chai Lifeline’s Big Brother/Big Sister program; Honey and David Berger, whose fund provides resources for non-medical expenses incurred by families of seriously ill children; the Horn family, benefactors of the Jack and Moishe Horn Campus in Glen Spey, New York; and the Schnall family, who recently dedicated the Martin D. and Margot Schnall Creative Woodworking Program and the Martin D. Schnall Woodshop.

“The people in Queens are an inspiration,” Rabbi Laib Roberts, director of regional development stated. “In the last five years I’ve met so many people who are more than donors. They take that often uncomfortable next step of asking others to become involved. They share their love for Chai Lifeline’s work and ask others to share the responsibility for it as well.”

Despite the festive mood in the room, the superb food, and the record numbers of supporters who came to last night’s event, Rabbi Scholar said he hoped not to be there next year. “Let’s pray that there is no need for Chai Lifeline by next year,” he said. “Let’s pray to an end to suffering, an end to the tears shed by worried parents and children in pain.”