Community Magazine October 2019

30 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE of their ideas with new information, or better yet, have your own awesome piece of wisdom to share and teach?! For these reasons and many more, The Well has improved the lives of community women and mothers over the past two years. “I love the atmosphere, the colors of the building, the quotes on the wall,” said Sarah Cohen. Kassin, a young student at The Well relates, “Once I was done with college, I had this thirst for Judaic knowledge, so I signed up for a class at The Well. It was about the megillot and Shir HaShirim . That class and the ones that I chose to take after really filled a spiritual void inme. I learned life lessons I could apply, and sat amongst adults that wanted to be there and asked great questions. I enjoy the Judaic classes but I also enjoy the wide range of other topics that helped make me the well-rounded and growing individual I am today.” Special Programming In addition to the courses, The Well also offers a variety of programs throughout the year which they welcome all community women to partake in. On Hanukah, a very exciting event dubbed “Doughnut Wars” is held. This interactive event features multiple teams who battle it out in the kitchen, making sweet, oily, traditional, and creative treats to present to esteemed judges. In the end, the audience gets a chance to walk around and sample the doughnuts for themselves! Suffice it to say it’s a well-attended event! Additionally, once a month, The Well gets a speaker to come in to give a free class. During this event, they have added a brand-new initiative called The Well-X. They offer the chance for a home cook, who typically sells her cooked goods, to cater the event and get paid for her services. This not only gives her thebusiness fromthis event but also gives her the chance to showcase her talents to potential clients at the class. They’re always looking for new chefs ,so if this sounds like something you’d be interested in doing be sure to reach out! Before almost every holiday, you can count on The Well to get you into the spirit. As community women are busy with cooking, errands, and getting everyone’s outfits together, The Well prepares a spiritually uplifting morning on the topic of that specific holiday. There is no charge for these beautiful classes - even though they offer a scrumptious hot breakfast (including their famous Nespresso station) and, of course, some kind of exciting raffle or giveaway.  “It’s hard for me to take on a class for a whole semester all the time, with four little ones at home, but I domake itmy business to attend the events at The Well,” said community member Sarah Halawani. “I just love being in the building, around great strong women, seeing all the creativity and hard work they put in just so we can enjoy and learn.” Sarah continued, “The Well is so giving and generous in everything they do. At one event some technical difficulties were causing a delay - they started to give out ‘The Well’ beanies, glitter ‘The Well’ iPhone cases... talk about swag!” Hesed at TheWell One of the greatest hesed projects that is continuously going on at The Well is the initiative called Well-Fed. The program is funded by Jimmy Haddad in honor of his wife Ricci. For this, women get together in the kitchen at The Well to cook meals specifically for the food pantry at Sephardic Bikur Holim. Family members and friends get together for this beautiful cause. All the meals that come out of The Well kitchen are packaged beautifully and labeled clearly. The love and effort that goes into each meal puts them in high demand at the pantry! “The SBH food pantry now has a special freezer for meals made from The Well-Fed program!” said Sheri Shabot, a student of The Well. “The clients at SBH light up when they receive these prepared meals, which are delicious and are often made for Shabbat and holidays. It’s a pleasure working with Gayle, as she meticulously oversees this amazing program.” Whether it is a parenting class, a language class, or an art class, The Well recruits community professionals to teach the class and to put together a seamless curriculum for everyone to enjoy. The teachers assume the student knows nothing, and start from the beginning to make sure no one gets left behind! Each day at The Well there is a new goal, and the long-term goal is for The Well to one day become an accredited college, so women can walk away with earned degrees in the subjects they take! New Location Here is exciting news: The Well will soon be moving to 520 Kings Highway! To donate or to learn more about this invaluable community resource, head to www.WellNY.org . “ I enjoy the Judaic classes but I also enjoy the wide range of other topics that helpedmake me the well-rounded and growing individual I am today.” In loving memory of the Sassoon Children