Traveling on a mission to Israel with “Crafting for a Cure” was magical, emotional, spiritual, extremely overwhelming and inspirational in every which way possible. We visited monumental sites from The Western Wall to The Holy Sepulchre, from Massada to the Dead Sea… there’s too many to list, but every site was an experience of a lifetime. We visited hospitals, where we brought endless boxes of craft supplies, and we also visited some very special schools that integrated special needs children in regular schools. My most memorable moment was at Shaare Tzedek Hospital. The magic was everywhere, in the lobby while we entered with all the boxes of crafts, from the look on the children’s faces when they saw DooDoo the Clown and Aaron Matthew’s performing, and from the twinkle in everyone’s eyes when the ballerina’s danced in the hallways, into the children’s rooms, and into everyone’s heart. This humanitarian heartwarming overwhelming magical feeling was in the air! I enjoyed crafting with children, and even some of the moms, dads and siblings came in to craft and help take their mind off things.

At the Tichon Meggido School, we met 4 young men that demonstrated a robot that they designed and built from scratch. This robot was remote controlled and was able to pick up items and place them into a box. These 4 students represented their school and won their regional competition and were going to be competing nationally. We later found out that they had Asperger (A high functioning Autism…. And you would of never know!). My aha moment came while at this school. We were in the auditorium and Pamela Bielak, Founder and President of “Crafting for a Cure” was introduced and stood at the front/side of the stage. The Ballerina’s had performed and the students where amazed at how they danced on their toes and ever so elegantly. Then Aaron Matthews and DooDoo the Clown performed, and the crowd of students were just enchanted and right into the performances screaming for more… it could have been a rock concert! I sat in the front but on the far side and I had an amazing view… when it hit me…. Here were two simple families from this great City in Canada called the City of Vaughan. These two families just happen to be neighbors. One was DooDoo the Clown, professionally bringing smiles to so many children around the world for over 30 years, and the other was Pamela Bielak “Crafting for a Cure” bringing smiles to so many children around the world (over 100 hospitals around the world) for over 20 years…. And now here was the second generation doing the same. Aaron Matthew’s as a magician and Naomi Bielak as fonder of “Smiles for All” and her ballerina’s. I felt privileged, honoured, and humbled to be there with them and to be able to say these are my friends. Thank you for this inspirational and magical time.

Enza Barbieri

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