The “Tu B’Shvat” celebration for
Israel’s Arbor Day took place at the ZM Day Center in Jerusalem.
ZM’s dedicated “Sherut Leumi” girls prepared and presented
a colorful program which was attended also by ZM’s young male volunteers,
who assist as counselors to the sick children when they go on outings
and to ZM’s Adventure Camps in Israel and overseas.
The young men opened the program with a variety of entertainment acts
which amused the children very much. All the children then used a wide
variety of fruits to create and decorate all kinds of “funny faces”
and “heads”.
Oranges and apples turned into clowns, kings, monsters and favorite
heroes. Dried fruits turned into decorative mobiles, fresh fruits changed
to delicious and healthy milkshakes, and left-over fruits became fresh
fruit juice.
A special play corner was set up for toddlers and babies. Some of the
toddlers are cancer patients themselves, while other infants are the
siblings of young cancer patients.
The evening’s special event was the dedication of Zichron Menachem’s
newest source of therapeutic activity for cancer-stricken children and
their siblings: a hot-house intended for educational programs and Horticulture
Therapy. After each child had chosen his or her favorite kind, the children
planted and watered a variety of vegetables - tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers,
eggplants, cabbages and lettuce. The hot-house will be used all-year-round
by the sick children and their siblings for creative and therapeutic
activities. Children will, for instance, grow spices and herbs which
they will harvest for use in their Cooking & Nutrition club.
The hot-house was donated to Zichron Menachem by the Women’s
Division of Keren Hayesod-UIA (United Israel Appeal) in Milan, Italy.
The “Hishtil” Plant Nursery in Israel donated turf mats
and plants to the brand-new hot-house. All the children, siblings and
parents are most grateful for these very kind contributions.
During the same time that our special “Tu B’Shvat”
celebration was taking place, the rest of ZM’s regular after-school
activities were “in action” for all interested children:
drumming lessons, computers, tutorial assistance with school studies,
the photography lab and sports.
At the end of the fun-filled evening, the Sherut Leumi girls ran a
prize-filled Bingo game for the children. All the children went home
with a personal “Tu B’Shvat” gift - potted plants
for their house or garden.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
