June 21, 2013 | By Scott Fishman, Forum Publishing Group
SunSentinel
Rachel Friedman marked an important milestone in Jewish life with a fundraising effort that generated more than $4,000.
The student at Falcon Cove Middle School in Weston took the money raised from her bat mitzvah project and donated it to the Dr. Jack Mills Scholarship Fund, which helps provide hearing aids and other services to those who wouldn’t be able to afford them otherwise.
The cause is a personal one, as Friedman was diagnosed with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss about a decade ago.
“I want other children who need to wear hearing aids know that they can fit in, accomplish anything that they want to and just be a regular kid,” she said. “I have never let hearing loss stand in my way and want to be a positive example to other children, so they realize they should always feel good about themselves.”
She began her project by speaking to aural rehabilitation and audiology graduate-level classes at Nova Southeastern University in Davie to give a firsthand account of what it’s like for a child with hearing loss and how to better work with them. Friedman was fitted with hearing aids and cared for at NSU’s audiology clinic by Erica Friedland.
Friedman began fundraising two months prior to her bat mitzvah, sending a letter to friends and family explaining the importance of what she was doing. In it, she wrote about helping a 7-year-old from New York who had recently been diagnosed with hearing loss become comfortable wearing hearing aids to school. She also coordinated with her synagogue and the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association.
Alison Friedman is proud of her daughter’s efforts.
“When Rachel presented the donation to Nova Southeastern University, I could not have been more proud of my daughter,” she said. “At that moment, I realized that rather than her hearing loss being a disability, it is an inspiration for her to help others. Rachel’s kindness and compassion toward others is a quality that I will always love and admire in her.”
For her daughter, the project is ongoing and includes speaking to other children with a hearing loss to offer them hope, confidence and support.
Donations for the hearing impaired, through NSU’s Dr. Jack Mills Scholarship Fund, may be directed to Wren Newman at [email protected].
Contributions can also be made to the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association at Asha.org/nsslha.
