Baltimore, MD - Feb. 16, 2016 - When the girls of Bais Yaakov’s Dolphin Club picked the date for their winter carnival to benefit Bikur Cholim, they never dreamt it would fall on the day after the worst snowstorm in Baltimore history. Undaunted and undeterred, the girls simply rescheduled the event until the following Sunday after the community had a chance to dig out from under the blizzard’s two and a half feet of snow. In fact, their timing couldn’t have been better as cooped up kids and adults alike relished the chance to get out and have some fun. And fun they had!
A huge crowd packed the Bais Yaakov Middle School gym, which the Dolphin Club girls had transformed into a colorful indoor carnival filled with all kinds of games, contests, art projects, prizes and classic food like cotton candy, snocones, popcorn and pizza.
The successful Dolphin Club event proved once again that kids know what kids like. The girls planned and implemented almost every aspect of the carnival and even created some original, one-of-a-kind games especially for the event. Moonbounce obstacle course, face painting, cookie-gram art, tic tac toss game, bowling, bubble gum race, putt putt and much more--all the carnival attractions were a hit, as boys and girls excitedly went from table to table to sample the fun. There was even a life-size dolphin walking around interacting with the crowd for the first time.
As they have shown so often in the past, the Dolphin Club doers and future leaders are experts at turning great ideas into successful chesed campaigns. The carnival exceeded its fundraising goal and a substantial sum was raised to help Bikur Cholim continue its immensely valuable chesed to our community.
“You can’t successfully produce an event of this size without a lot of people helping,” said Mrs. Leeba Braun, Dolphin Club Director. “There was tremendous camaraderie and harmony throughout the process. Sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth graders got involved. Former Dolphin Club members helped out. The girls wanted to include everyone and interacted beautifully together,” she noted.
“I was very impressed with the respectful, thoughtful way they worked as a team and cooperated with each other to get things done,” Mrs. Braun remarked. “This is what the Dolphin Club is all about.”
Planning for the winter carnival began in November of 2015. Realizing that they didn’t have enough money to cover all the expenses, the Dolphin Club girls sold knishes as part of their own fundraising event. The knishes sold like hot cakes, providing the funds needed to cover the lion’s share of the carnival costs.
Rabbi Naftali Hexter, Principal of Bais Yaakov Middle School, is an enthusiastic supporter of the Dolphin Club. “Mrs. Braun did a phenomenal job with the carnival,” he remarked. “Her sixth grade Dolphins were made to feel like a million dollars! What better way is there to sensitize our young leaders to the needs of the Jewish community than by pulling them in through the process of Dolphin Club events such as this one.”
“I felt proud of myself because I thought I’d be made fun of being a sixth grader running a carnival--and I wasn’t, said Dolphin Club member, Ahava Bondi. “It was fun for the whole community!”
We don’t know what chesed project is next on the horizon for the Dolphin Club, but stay tuned. You can be sure it will be creative, thoughtful, successful and amazing!
