Two Montreal youth in the Kids4Chai program have raised funds for Camp Simcha in memory of Refoel Goldberg. Their letter and actions are simply beautiful. Thank you for finding such a warm and loving way to remember an incredible boy.

The letter reads:

“Dear Chai Lifeline,

Refoel Goldberg z”l was my mother’s first cousin. I got to know him last summer when we spent our vacation with his family. I saw firsthand how much Refoel loved Camp Simcha. He spent hours on Friday on the phone with friends he made from camp. Som were Counselors, performers, other staff members, but speaking to each of them put a huge smile on his face. That Shabbas we were talking about the different hospitals that do the transplant that he desperately needed and Refoel said his choice would be to have it don’t in Nebraska. When my mother asked him why specifically there, he responded that he had a Camp Simcha counselor who lived there and he wanted very much to see him.

When Chi Lifeline sent information to my school for us to all collect money I knew I wanted to collect as much as possible because of all Chai Lifeline has done for Refoel. When he went into the hospital for his transplant I spent a lot of time saying tehillim and made sure to have more kavanah when saying Asher Yatzar. After his petirah I felt so sad and wanted to do something more concrete in his memory. I remembered how much he wanted to spend time with his counselor from Camp Simcha and I realized that in the Kids4Chai pamphlet they had a category for a Shabbas reunion for 20 Camp Simcha kids and their counselors. Right away I set a goal of raising $1,800 for Chai Lifeline, to help his dream become a reality for those kids who are missing their friends and counselors just like him.

Together with my younger sister and help from so many family members and friends, and selling lots of lemonade we have exceeded our $1,800 goal. I just wanted you to know that this was a lot of hard work but we did it to thank you for all the work you do for kids like Refoel and their families. As much as people hope to never have a need for an organization like yours, we know we are fortunate to have you to rely on for all you have done for Refoel and continue to do for other bots and girls like him.”

36 HOURS.

$500,000

2X MATCH!