The Gesher Early Childhood Center recently received a tremendous boost of encouragement from the Five Towns community. Well over 150 guests participated in Gesher’s Expansion Campaign Breakfast. The event was designed to mark Gesher’s continued growth and to generate support for additional resources and services.
Mr. Aroni and Mrs. Chani Parnes, Gesher grandparents, opened their home in a most inviting fashion. The delicious and plentiful breakfast presentation combined with the warm open atmosphere of the Parnes home made for an enjoyable morning for all. Adding to the experience was the opportunity to view Mrs. Parnes’s beautiful artwork that adorns the walls of the Parnes home. The program was short and to the point, allowing the assembled to get a focused understanding of Gesher’s mission and accomplishments.
Mr. Parnes opened by thanking Gesher for the tremendous work that he has seen firsthand. He noted that Gesher is quite unique, as it appeals to all facets of the community. Gesher’s parent body represents a diverse range of shul affiliations, and Gesher transitions students to every single yeshiva day school in our neighborhood.
Rabbi Azriel Bodner, who works together with his wife, Mrs. Chava Bodner, the director of Gesher, presented a brief overview of Gesher’s growth and model. He noted that the breakfast, which took place on the same day as the levayah of Rabbi Binyamin Kamenetzky, zt’l, was truly a kavod to his memory. Not only was the Yeshiva of South Shore the host school for Gesher in its first two years, but Rabbi Kamenetzky was a founder of chinuch throughout our neighborhood.
Rabbi Bodner pointed out that the hosts, the event chair, the parent committee, and the community committee are all recognized for their involvement in chinuch. Their association with Gesher is a strong and public vote of confidence and admiration.
The program was rounded out by the remarks of Dr. Shlomo Stern, a psychologist who works in the Yeshiva of Flatbush, and a current Gesher parent. He reinforced the point that was made by others—that the Gesher staff and administration is extremely talented, and, more importantly, exceptionally dedicated. He recounted the many individualized modifications and the vigilance of the staff to tailor the program to enrich his child’s learning experience.
Gesher again thanks the many committee members for their involvement and support, as well as the many grandparents, aunts and uncles, and friends who attended the event and participated in the expansion campaign.