Purim is a wonderful holiday full of fun and excitement and the getting and giving of goodies. However, Purim is also a time when some people feel extra sadness. This includes children who, for whatever reason, are no longer – or never were – in a frum school. Last year, nearly 50 frum Baltimore kids in public school almost didn’t receive shalach manos.
But, thank G-d – and thanks to you – they did!
Simcha’s Purim is a local initiative of parents of frum kids in public school who daven that our children feel the happiness of Purim and the sweetness of our Torah. It was created l’ilui nishmas my father, a”h, whose name was Simcha ben Yaakov.
Simcha’s Purim is not meant to be a chesed project but, rather, just a friendly gesture to great children who may be unknown or forgotten simply by virtue of not being in a mainstream school. Since our volunteers know them, and you may not, we will be your messengers to deliver your shalach manos to kids who will appreciate them.
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How you can participate:
- Please drop off even one shalach manos, either individual items or foods packaged by your kids (no homemade food, please) at 6528 Sanzo Road #C any time before Purim.
- If you know of kids who would like to receive a shalach manos from us on Purim, please email with their name and address: WeLoveSimchasPurim@gmail.com. (Please note if we can share this information with another parent/child team who will be helping with deliveries.)
- If you would like to help with the logistics or be part of our delivery team, please contact us at the above email.
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In last year’s outpouring of support, we also became aware of kids in the frum schools who didn’t get a single shalach manos. How can that happen? What can we do?
Here are a few ideas of how each one of us can make a difference:
- If you are a teacher, you know who may be overlooked by the students and their
parents. Perhaps the kid is not very social or lives with mom or lives further away. Or perhaps the child is super-popular so that everyone erroneously thinks he/she doesn’t need a shalach manos from them. Find creative ways to encourage the kids and their parents to give to someone outside their typical group. - If you are a parent, go over a class list. Discuss with your kid to whom they plan to give and – more importantly – to whom they don’t plan to give, and why. (You’ll learn a lot about your child’s class dynamics this way.) Maybe choose one classmate from the previously overlooked ones and give them a shalach manos.
- All of us know awesome people who have fallen off our social grid: the neighbor, the single dad, the young woman, our co-worker, the family that stopped
going to shul. Choose one extra person and bring him or her a shalach manos and maybe even invite them to your Purim seuda!
Any more ideas? Comments? Please reach out to us. Tizku lemitzvos!
