Mitzvah with a mission

Noah Friedman, a seventh grader at Johnston Middle School, volunteers at Friends of Down Syndrome. His mitzvah project for his bar mitzvah included raising money for the organization. (Photo: Eric Kleiman)

In Judaism, at age 13, boys become men through the rite of passage called a bar mitzvah. This includes leading Sabbath services, donating time and gifts to a worthy cause, and celebrating with friends and family.

My mitzvah project included volunteering at Friends of Down Syndrome (FoDS), which helps teens and adults via the T21 Social Club, plus academic and vocational programming for post-high-school adults with Down syndrome.

My sister Gwendolyn has Down syndrome. For the past few years, my parents were struggling with what Gwen would do after graduating from Bellaire High School. In January 2014, my mom’s friend Rosa Rocha founded FoDS and its Down Syndrome Academy. In May, she gave my parents a tour. They fell in love with the academy and all its opportunities. Gwen started attending the Down Syndrome Academy on the Monday following her high school graduation. My mom started volunteering there every day, and both of my parents were active in the growth of FoDS.

I volunteered there with my mom for three weeks in August. I enjoyed getting to know lots of people with Down syndrome. After a while, the teachers asked me to help them during the day. Then, I was honored with the August 2014 Volunteer of the Month. This made me feel awesome, and I kept volunteering there during the following school year and summer.

I’ve spent time helping in the office doing filing, maintaining the bulletin boards, updating computers, setting up printers and being the receptionist. I’ve also helped on the weekends at T21 Social Club events, such as parties and sleepovers after school, on the weekends and during school holidays.

I wanted to do more for my mitzvah project. So I started collecting ink cartridges, toners, cell phones, computers and tablets and sending them to Maxback.com and FundingFactory.com to make cash to donate to FoDS. So far, I’ve collected over 100 supplies. Having the opportunity to work with FoDS made my mitzvah project successful and my bar mitzvah even more meaningful.

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