Jonah and Spencer’s Bar Mitzvah

Dear Family & Friends,

We are very excited and looking forward to our Bar Mitzvah celebration.

As far back as we can remember, Friendship Circle and LifeTown have always been a very important part of our life. We watched as the LifeTown center became a reality, offering myriad opportunities for recreation, education, and therapeutic play for individuals with special abilities and their families. LifeTown includes some incredible spaces,  featuring an indoor city, a zero-entry pool, gym, and so much more.

For our Bar Mitzvah we are raising money to donate 1 of the 3 lanes for the new fully-accessible Bowling Center! Bowling is one of the most favorite activities for the participants of all ages.

As part of this dedication, we are committed to raising $50,000, and our family will match every dollar donated in honor of our Bar Mitzvah. We hope everyone will join us in supporting our very ambitious & meaningful project.

Why the Bowling Center @ LifeTown?

Some of our earliest memories are of participating in Challah bakes, attending holiday programming and even going to summer camp at LifeTown!  We have been attending the annual FCwalk with our family since we were 2!  (Go team Simon Says….Walk!) So, it makes perfect sense that, in honor of our upcoming Bar Mitzvah, we would choose to do something super special for the place that has been such an integral part of our childhood.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with LifeTown, and the Friendship Circle, let us share with you. Friendship Circle is an inclusive organization that provides assistance, support, and programming to 20,000 individuals with special needs and their families.  They provide recreational, social, educational and vocational programming.  In addition to helping those in need, the Friendship Circle enriches all who volunteer there by enabling them to reap the rewards of selfless giving.

LifeTown is the 53,000 Sq Ft fully inclusive & accessible center which is the home to the Friendship Circle in our community. Please see the amazing Good Morning America feature story below.

We have experienced 1st hand how lifechanging it has been for both the participants and volunteers to have so many wonderful activities available within the walls of LifeTown.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Sincerely,

Jonah & Spencer Simon

LifeTown, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) organization and all donations are fully tax-deductible.

Judah’s Mitzvah Project

For my mitzvah project, I am raising money for new adaptive equipment for the Friendship Circle, in order to enhance the lives of children with multiple disabilities.

When I go to LifeTown to volunteer with my brother Sam, I have noticed that there are children and teens with different capabilities; I would like to make activities, like cooking and art projects, even more accessible for everyone, regardless of their physical limitations. My goal

 is to be able to purchase additional equipment for the Friendship Circle in order to ensure that every child is able to have the best experience every time they are there.

To learn more about LifeTown, please visit www.LifeTown.com

Thank you!
Judah

Mason’s Bar Mitzvah

Dear Family and Friends,

The Friendship Circle has always been very important to my family and me. As far back as I can remember, we have spent time and raised money to support its amazing programs. LifeTown, the Friendship Circle’s state of the art facility, provides children with special needs practical and recreational skills so important for their future growth and development. While the Friendship Circle certainly makes the lives of kids with special needs and their families better, it also provides amazing opportunities for the entire community. I can tell you firsthand that it is really awesome to be at LifeTown and be a part of it all. So, it makes perfect sense that I recently found myself in the playground at LifeTown, thinking about what we could do to make it even better.

Basketball has always been my passion and an outlet for me. It seemed natural that my Mitzvah Project would combine two things so part of who I am. In honor of my becoming a Bar Mitzvah, I want to build an outdoor basketball court at LifeTown. I know, as well as anyone, how important it is to get your energy out through sports. Physical activity and learning to be a part of a team are very important life skills for every kid.   It helps improve motor skills, personal relationships, develops self-confidence, and teaches athletic and sportsmanship skills which are so important to kids with special needs.

In lieu of gifts, please help me make this happen for the kids of the Friendship Circle by accessing the link below.  Together we can make a difference.

Looking forward to celebrating with you in January!

Love,

Mason

 

Ryan’s Field

On 10/24/2017 our family was honored to be a part of the the creation of the football field at LifeTown and the dedication by the Jets and the United Way.  The day was magical as we watched Ryan run around giggling and beaming as he got to “play football” for the first time.  Sadly, Ryan passed away before the building was completed.

Now, four years later, on 11/26/2021 we are proud to announce the official naming of the field.  It is with extreme pride and deep gratitude to Toba and Zalman Grossbaum and the entire team at LifeTown that we are finally able to host the official naming of Ryan’s Field.

In addition, we are excited to announce a new program called the Football Circle, which will take place that day on the field.  Our youngest son, Jake, decided as his Bar Mitzvah project that he wanted to coordinate a new and exciting program on Ryan’s Field called Football Circle.  For this special event, friends from LifeTown will be able to participate in a fun program of football drills, non-contact fun play and enjoy time alongside members of Livingston’s Football Team.

Please join us as we officially “name” Ryan’s field.

Please join us as a participant or volunteer for the Football Circle.

Please join us as a community and take a moment to celebrate all of our blessings in life.

Please consider supporting Ryan’s Field and the Football Circle so we can ensure programs like this, with appropriate equipment, can continue to bring joy and allow people to Do Happy for years to come.

Thank you so much for continuing to support our family, for helping celebrate Ryan and for being part of this beautiful community..

Barbara. Jeff, Zach, Jake, Corynne, Grant and Gilliann

The Warter-Sarrett Family

 

Jake’s Bar Mitzvah

 

Hi.

My name is Jake Warter and I am a rising 8th grader at Heritage Middle School in Livingston, NJ.  In honor of my becoming a Bar Mitzvah and in celebration of my older brother Ryan Bennett Warter, I want to raise money to support outdoor sports programs on the field at Life Town.  I grew up being involved with Friendship Circle and Life Town.  As a young child, I used to hang alongside Ryan at programs and shadow my other brother Zach as he volunteered.  Now that I am old enough, I have been volunteering on my own.  I know how much this community meant to Ryan and means to my family and me.  With the support of Toba & Zalman Grossbaum, Ryan’s Field, the one place at Life Town that Ryan was able to experience joy and Do Happy, will be officially named in the Fall 2021.

For my mitzvah project, I  will be coordinating a new program on Ryan’s Field called Football Circle.  Similar to Soccer Circle, individuals at Life Town will be able to participate in a fun program of football drills, non-contact fun play and enjoy time alongside members of Livingston’s Football Team. My hope is this program is able to be offered yearly.

Thank you in advance for your donations and support.

Jake

Lukas Kaplan’s Bar Mitzvah Fundraiser

I am so lucky I had the opportunity to participate in the Friendship Circle’s Mitzvah Volunteer Program (MVP).

My peers and I trained to volunteer at LifeTown, the Friendship Circle’s new, state of the art facility. LifeTown was built to teach the Friendship Circle’s special needs children life skills so important to their future growth. On Monday afternoons I volunteer in a sports program, there’s nothing I love more than playing sports and helping others learn to play as well.

In honor of my becoming a Bar Mitzvah, I’m raising money to help with sports programming at Life Town. Every child should have the opportunity to play sports, especially children with special needs. Please help me give this gift to children in our community. Thank you so much,

Lukas Kaplan

Barbara Turns 85!

Barbara Zinbarg is a lifelong educator and, as of 2019, an energetic, enthusiastic, committed volunteer at LifeTown. She is thrilled to be able to help people with special abilities feel included, welcome, and most of all, capable. Our family decided to honor her on her birthday by supporting this organization that she loves.

Thank you all for your generous support.

Alex’s Wayfinding

In honor of my Bar Mitzvah, I am donating a portion of my gifts to fund a digital signage screen at the front entrance of LifeTown, which will clearly show where each program is taking place.

LifeTown is a bustling center with multiple programs and events going on at once.

To help direct visitors and participants to the correct room, the wayfinding screen at the front entrance will clearly show where each program is taking place. I hope that this will help make it more clear for individuals who have special needs navigate LifeTown.

– Alex

SPENCER’S MITZVAH PROJECT TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES

Dear Family and Friends,

Just ask any parent of an individual with special needs what they want to see from their child.  Among the many answers one can receive, a consistent theme of a smile and happiness from inclusion.  As a result, in honor of my Bar Mitzvah, we are helping the Friendship Circle at LifeTown launch a program for adults with disabilities.  This program aims to foster interaction amongst adults with special needs and provide them with a place to learn, have fun, and smile!  My goal is to raise money, specifically for the LifeTown Adult program, so it will be fully equipped with everything needed for a successful experience.  We are eager to invite all to volunteer (parents and children).  Each group will be paired with an adult with disabilities and have full access to all the wonderful amenities that LifeTown has to offer.  Please come and join us!      

Date:  Sunday December 15 2019.  Event time: 1:00 p.m. Children under 16 must come with one adult and arrive by 12:15 for training.    Adults with disabilities:  21 and over and must come with one adult.

 Please email:  Bernsteinlauren@yahoo.com to sign up.

Thank you for your support!

Spencer Bernstein