Hospital Programs for Children
The most forgotten children in the world are children in hospitals – boys and girls stricken with chronic or life-threatening illnesses.
Forgotten by their healthy peers, they languish in juvenile wards, suffering pain, invasive procedures, chemotherapy, confinement and lack of mobility. During joyous seasons like Chanukah or summertime, the children who deserve it most – indeed who need it most – are at risk of getting nothing.
Colel Chabad’s Hospital Program for Children brings the joy of summer camp and Chanukah to the hospitals where these children are being treated.
On Chanukah, Colel Chabad staff and volunteers visit these children bringing along clowns and musicians, candies and cakes, dancing and skits and of course, they bring toys, toys, toys — all brand new and shiny.
During the long summer months these children cannot go to camp, so Colel Chabad brings camp to them. Each day, in the playrooms of participating hospitals, boys and girls put on their camp tee shirts and hats. Together with volunteer counselors, they sing camp songs, play games, enjoy special performances, and work on arts and crafts projects.
Doctors and nurses are constantly amazed. Our visiting summer camp makes miracles happen. Listless children come to life. Appetites are renewed. Curiosity and excitement abound. Camp is important for every child, but for these children, it is truly a new lease on life.
Hospital Programs at a Glance:
- Number of hospitals: 8
- Children’s Institutions: 16
- Number of children: 2,638
- Chanukah gifts: 2,638
- Volunteers: 60
Summer Camps
- Number of hospitals: 7
- Children’s Institutions: 12
- Number of children: 1,476
- Volunteers: 48