Blog

By Debbie Schultz

On September 28, 2019, we had just wrapped up the final High Holy Day sound check and I was still in the Temple office when my sister called. I heard her say “Drew has a brain tumor” and my knees buckled and I felt like the wind was knocked out of me. It just couldn’t be true, he was only 6 years old. For a brief moment, time stood still, and then everything changed.

Drew's first visitor in the hospital was Rabbi Amy, who brought a bucket of toys to keep him occupied between tests. Later that day it was Diane Packman and Amanda Stein who came down to Children's Hospital. Over the next week, as Drew endured over 25 hours of surgery, we were constantly surrounded by our Temple Israel community who brought food, sent money, watched Drew's brother Tyler, checked on us, watched my dog, and prayed as hard as we did for Drew's recovery. Rabbi Amy, Rabbi Michael, or Rabbi Shook visited every day. And the waiting room was full of TI friends when the doctor announced "we got it all - all visible signs of the tumor are gone" - there wasn't a dry eye in the place. Months followed of doctors and radiation therapy. Every moment is painfully crystal clear and simultaneously a blur. We were thrust into the pediatric cancer community, a community that no one wants to be a part of. And through it all, our Temple community was there.

As Drew continued to heal, our family looked for ways to give back to organizations helping families like ours. Drew donated his 7th birthday to Pedal the Cause, and when my mom passed away a few months ago we selected Pedal as the primary charity for donations in her memory. I joined the board of The Bennett Project, a local non-profit that directly supports families battling pediatric cancer in the St. Louis area through direct financial assistance, various programming, and a toy and gift card drive. Earlier this summer, Drew designed his own notecards that we sold to raise over $500 for both these worthwhile organizations.

As we say at The Bennett Project, COVID doesn't stop cancer, and so on Saturday, December 5 Drew and I were standing outside Walgreens collecting donations towards the toy and gift card drive. We had a bet going as to how many TI friends we would see (the answer was 8!) and were having a good time helping others when the unimaginable happened. As Drew and I stepped away for a few minute break, another Board member continued to solicit donations. A car pulled up next to her, someone came out and pretended to put a donation into our collection jar, and then grabbed it and ran back to the car. Hours of fundraising, gone in an instant, another piece of Drew's innocence along with it. Creve Coeur Police responded in minutes (including some familiar TI friendly faces) and we packed up and headed home - luckily safe but absolutely shaken and devastated.

And then it happened - word spread like wildfire and our community rallied. The first donation came in from Risa, a recent Bat Mitzvah and former student of mine. That was followed almost immediately with donations from Lilly and Olivia, also in the 7th grade class. Twenty minutes later, it was Hazel and Ruby in the 2nd and 5th grades. Later that day, Maddy visited Drew with her own double chai donation, as well as one from her grandparents. Our TI kids, mini mensches, reaching into their tzedakah jars and piggy banks to replace the money taken. And then, family after family sending donations of toys and money. The next day, Drew (with his mom's help) spent hours driving around town picking up toys, checks, and cash from members of the TI and the greater St. Louis Jewish community. So many people reached out wanting to help in Drew's honor. The response was overwhelming.

In our Religious School classrooms, our students are participating in "Yom Tzedek" (day of justice) one Sunday per month. Later this year, all the students in our school will study: “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief.  Do justly, now.  Love mercy, now.  Walk humbly, now.  You are not expected to complete the task, but neither are you free to abandon it.” On that Saturday afternoon, it was certainly easy to be consumed by the grief of our loss. There hasn't been an arrest in the case, but I feel some justice has been done in that The Bennett Project will be able to help so many more families in 2021 with the good done by those who contributed. And, while there is certainly much work to be done to fix our broken world, the TI community went a long way in showing a little boy that the bad choices of a few can be wiped out by the blessings of the many.

Debbie Schultz is a TI member who serves on the Board of Trustees, teaches Religious School Sunday mornings, and tutors many of the Temple's B'nai Mitzvah students.