Rachel Chafetz, Gateways Parent of a Child in the Sunday Program and Gateways Tutor Sweet Sounds Co-Chair Welcome Remarks

Good afternoon everyone.

My name is Rachel Chafetz and I am honored to co-chair this afternoon event with my dear friends Dena Rashes and Sharon Shapiro.

This afternoon is all about gratitude.  It is about special individuals who had a vision, a goal and the determination to make it a reality.  It is about special individuals that made a difference in the lives of children and their families. Who helped us all think differently about the role and the place of special education in our greater Boston community. 

 I, for one, am grateful to you Jennifer, Erik, and Sue for planting the seeds from which flowers can grow.  I am gratified for the joy that I experience, as a tutor, teaching some of those flowers for a Bar/Bat mitzvah.  Thanks to you the gate have been open for my own flower, our son, to be a Jewish child in a Jewish program regardless of his disabilities.