TORONTO — Volunteers for Zareinu Educational Centre hope to raise $20,000 for the school at a Torah learnathon in early March.
“This is one organization that can’t be let down,” said Jason Lapidus, a Toronto investment adviser and First Zareinu Learnathon volunteer.
There is no alternative to it in Toronto’s Jewish school system, he added.
Zareinu serves children with special needs including cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and autism spectrum disorder.
Annual tuition (if not subsidized) exceeds $45,000 per student and includes the cost of individualized therapy and special education. About 70 per cent of the school’s annual $4-million budget is derived from fundraising, according to Zareinu’s executive director, Randy Spiegel.
The learnathon is scheduled for Saturday, March 5, at 9 p.m. As of last Thursday, a dozen locations had been confirmed. At least one of them, however (Shaarei Tefillah Congregation), will hold the event the following morning.
Other locations include:
• Ahavas Yisrael Women’s Groups (various locations)
• Ateres Mordechai, 230 Arnold Ave., Thornhill
• Chabad @ Flamingo
• Chabad Lubavitch of Markham
• Chabad Lubavitch of Toronto, 770 Chabad Gate, Thornhill
• Kollel Ohr Yosef, 613 Clark Ave. W., Thornhill
• Petah Tikva Anshe Castilla Congregation
• Thornhill Community Shul, 949 Clark Ave. W., Thornhill
• Thornhill Woods Shul
• The Village Shul
• Westmount Shul & Learning Centre, 10 Disera Drive, Suite 250, Thornhill
People who want to take part in the event are also invited to register their own locations, possibly in their homes.
All the money raised will go to Zareinu for operating expenses, Lapidus said. There is no overhead, he added.
The event is intended not only to raise money for the school, but also to promote Jewish unity, Lapidus said. All participants, regardless of Jewish cultural background or level of observance, will learn Torah. “Torah is Torah. That’s what unites us.”
Organizers hope the learnathon will become an annual event.
For details or to register, go to zareinulearnathon.com.
