“So what are we going to do to fulfill your forty hour requirement?” was the question Daniela recounted to the sophomores as she began her talk to them. She was referring to the meeting she had over ten years ago with Ms. Benel when she was trying to find the best way to carry out her tenth grade chesed requirement. Daniela Mendelsohn is founder and executive director of “ArtWorks: The Naomi Cohain Foundation,” a non-profit organization that gives children with chronic and life threatening illnesses the opportunities to express themselves through the arts, however the child defines art.

In her short address to trigger the tenth grade chesed program, Daniela told about some of her high school chesed projects: visiting with an elderly woman in Washington Heights, spending Shabbat with Yachad friends and taking the time to share movies with her cousin Naomi Cohain who succumbed to cancer at the age of fifteen. Daniela stressed that these “moments” made a great impact on her and that they led her to where she is today. She encouraged the students to take advantage of the time that is required and find something that they have a passion for, whatever it is, “Those “moments” may prove to be life altering experiences.”

Please visit ramaz.tv and click on “Lectures” where you can listen to Daniela’s inspiring presentation in its entirety and hear the joy she expresses as many of her fellow alumnae reach out to her asking to support “ArtWorks,” in whatever way they can.  It was rewarding for us to host Daniela, an alumna who has chosen a career that reflects the values we cherish.