Leorah Wrench: Raising $7,500 for the Santa Barbara Cancer Foundation

My name is Leorah Wrench and I represent the 7th grade B’Mitzvah class of 2023, at Congregation B’nai B’rith.  At our synagogue, our class was assigned to do a community service project as part of our coming-of-age process as we approach bar or bat mitzvah at age 13.

Our class chose your organization as the recipient of our service and fundraising. Our class had many ideas for whom to donate and each student had an opportunity to pitch their favorite organization and why they thought it should be chosen for our group project.

When it was my turn, I shared the story of my mom, Becca Wrench, having all the support she needed, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago. I remember that the congregation (CBB), friends and family brought meals for many weeks. I remember that a lot of our neighbors delivered flowers that were just waiting for us when we opened our front door.  I also remember that my grandma and grandpa came down to visit a lot and take my sister and I out of the house and away from the worry and stress of having a sick parent.

I wanted to give other people the same kind of support that my family received in the way of visits, meals, medical care, treatments and love.  After I spoke to the class, the unanimous decision was made to care for families who were surviving cancer together and to give our donations and funds to your organization to use for new treatment, technology and equipment.

Over the course of 2023, each of my 11 classmates and I had a bar or bat mitzvah service, at which we made a speech to our congregation, family and friends, which mentioned our group project – to raise funds for SBCF and to care for those families in need of treatment and love.  After each of us educated and made contributions, we’ve reached our fundraising goal of $7500 which we would like to donate to Santa Barbara Cancer Foundation.

We hope you can put this donation to good use and make a difference for anyone in need of cancer treatment.