As he turned 13 this fall, Justin Fagelson included TJS in his celebration. Justin is an 8th grader at St. Anne’s Episcopal School in Denver and became aware of TJS through the St. Anne’s-TJS peer buddy program. Justin had heard his older sister talk about the buddy program as one of her favorite school experiences. In normal times, the program pairs St. Anne’s students as “buddies” with TJS students and the buddies visit each other on their respective school campuses throughout the school year. The program is on hiatus this fall due to COVID-19, so Justin decided to contribute in a different way. In connection with his Bar Mitzvah this fall, he set up a GoFundMe site and told his friends and classmates that he was raising money for TJS. Donations poured in, exceeding even Justin’s expectations.
On October 29, Justin and his mother, Caterina, presented TJS with a check for the total donations received - $2,500! The funds will be used to purchase toys, games and other therapeutic tools for TJS students to use both at school and at home. A big thank you to Justin and his family from all of us at TJS! Yours is a truly remarkable gift.