Chai Lifeline Pre dinner Parent Speaks

lifeline. It's the organization. Six years ago, my daughter was born with a heart defect. She spent 13 months in in a hospital in Manhattan. And her life was very involved. And as everybody knows, as of recent, I've been undergoing treatments for the past year and a half. And my lifeline has been there every step of the way as well. In every in in every organiz in every there's different organizations that cater to certain you have organizations for for you have organizations for organizations for for and every organization they service a specific need. If you look around when you see when you when you when you see a lot of ads for high lifeline you see you know trip to Disneyland you see a this you see um you see pictures of of gala events and pes you see pictures of lifeline of you know little children without hair you know laughing and smiling and having a fun time and you might come to think that it's a organization which is which is there to make the most vulnerable of us to smile and and and and have a good time. It's true that they do that they definitely put a smile on our faces but but I think if that would be the if that would be the point of their organization they would have been called amusement the Kai party they're called Kai lifeline because that is what they are a lifeline imagine a family has you know has a child who's not well I know when my daughter wasn't well at that point they only had one son, only one other child besides her. And I know the havoc that it that it that it had on the family, but imagine you have a family which has six children, seven children, and the mother, the father, they're busy for months. They're in Minnesota, they're in Florida, they're in Philadelphia, they're in Texas, in Houston, where wherever, wherever they have to be, the family could become dysfunctional. If you have a parent that's not well and the spouse is just busy all the time with the, you know, taking care of doctors and hospitals and everything, family can fall apart. That that's where K lifeline comes into the picture that people who aren't who bar Hashem don't need don't need our services don't realize what goes on behind the scenes whether it's whether it's um when it's suffers many times my wife calls up a case manager pilot fly and says my husband's having a hard week I need suppers this week no problem whether it's they they have they know professional arts and crafts professional artists come and and and deal with and do artwork with children. Their parents aren't well. Their siblings aren't well. And it gives them it gives them a gishmak. It gives them a a big push. They're always there to answer the phone. The case workers, they're there to help you and to and to and to to um answer any questions. therapy. If you need if your children needs therapy or parents need therapy, they need to speak to somebody, how to deal with this question, how to deal with that question, if you need a ride to the hospital, if you need if you need food in the hospital. When my daughter was in in Manhattan, actually in Colombia for 13 months, we were there many full shabas, no problem on on the double. It's not an organization of of extra is an organization of necessity. And unfortunately, I've come to learn and there are hundreds literally hundreds of families in Lakewood that are that are um that that benefit from the service from the services of High Lifeline. And I don't think there's anybody in this room. I'm I'm standing here, but besides me, I don't think there's anybody in this room who can say that they don't know somebody in Lakewood who needed her lifeline services. Unfortunately, there's there's enough. And by the way, lifeline is not just is not just for cancer patients. Lifeline deals with any other many any any illness. Their matter was we fight we fight illness. We fight sickness with love, which is that that's what they do. But it's not just with love. They fight they fight it with with when when they help me. they they may I I feel as if I'm doing them a favor by letting them help me. And you know, there was somebody who wanted to do something for me and um at that point me and my wife felt that we didn't want that help and and we said no. And eventually when we felt we needed it, we said yes. And and they said, well, our offer is over. That's not is lifeline does. They give you the need. They give you the help when you need it and not when they feel you need it. But the is that again is not a it's not a it's not a organization of extra. Yes, they definitely help the most vulnerable smile and it definitely goes the extra way to to know to make it that much easier. But it's not only that. Self insulation.