Rabbi Gedalia Weinrib of Chai-A-Thon transforms your kids into seasoned fundraisers
Rabbi Gedalia Weinrib is the director of Chai-A-Thon, a children-led fundraiser for Camp Simcha, Chai Lifeline’s sleepaway camp for children with life-threatening and lifelong illnesses. Chai Lifeline is a national chesed organization that supports sick children and their families.
Over the course of the summer, tens of thousands of children across the country run custom fundraisers, from bike-a-thons to lemonade stands to backyard carnivals to yard sales to Tehillim-A-Thons and more. There are different fundraising levels, and based on how much you raise for Chai Lifeline, you can get a prize from that tier — anything from an art set and drawing tablet if you raise between $36 and $74 to a Segway if you raise $3,500 or more. The options for creativity and innovation are endless, and kids go all out. A mother recently emailed about her seven-year-old who’s advertising, “Won’t you buy a s’mores pie?” for Shabbos dessert with free delivery, with 17 orders so far. Another mother told us about the fast day camp her daughter and friend ran for kids on the block, all proceeds to Chai Lifeline. A boy is learning a mishnah a dollar — he’s at $107 and 107 mishnayos. Two sisters designed and sold Perler bead bows and did hairstyles for their friends, raising $1,200 together. Flower shops, hot dog stands — you name it, they sell it!
On an average summer, we send out about 15,000 prizes. We work with more than 300 day campsin the US and Canada — that’s over 75,000 children in more than 20 states across North America, not to mention the thousands of children raising funds on their own.
Chai-A-Thon predates me — I joined nine years ago — but Chai-A-Thon is over 25 years old. It’s the brainchild of Chai Lifeline CEO Rabbi Simcha Scholar, who was sitting with a patient when he saw an ad for a community hospital’s marathon fundraiser. Interesting idea, he thought. Can we adapt it? Camp Simcha was in its early stages at the time, and Rabbi Scholar thought this could help fund it. The program actually started as Swimathon, with the basic concept being kids getting sponsored per lap. Over the years, it evolved into what we now call Chai-A-Thon.
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