Founders of i-Shine are Herald ‘people of year’

Three people from the Five Towns who helped create Chai Lifeline’s i-Shine program, were honored this week as “People of the Year” by the Nassau Herald newspaper.

The idea for i-Shine — a program that provides activities and homework assistance for children in kindergarten through eighth grade who have a sibling or parent with a terminal illness — originated in 2006 with Woodmere resident Annette Kaufman. It grew out of her experience as an occupational therapist who treated children with cancer

“When a family member is sick, the whole family suffers tremendously,” she said.

Meanwhile, Lawrence resident Stacey Zrihen, a marketing professional, was looking for volunteer work and connected with Kaufman.

“I wanted to use what I was good at, and I felt I was lucky to be able to do something for the community,” Zrihen said.

Together with another early participant, Woodmere resident Deena Intrator, they reached out to Chai Lifeline, who conntected them with Andy Lauber, a social worker affiliated with the organization, and i-Shine was born.

Intrator observed that when she had breast cancer, “my children needed more support, and when I was younger, my mother had a stroke, so I knew what the children and families were going through.”

Intrator was sending high school volunteers from the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach to the homes of families touched by cancer to keep the unaffected children company and offer homework help, when she connected with Kaufman.

Kaufman, Lauber and Zrihen are featured on the cover of this week’s Nassau Herald. (Intrator recently reduced her role in the program.)

Supporting families on non-i-Shine nights is the next step for Kaufman, Lauber and Zrihen.

“So many people don’t have the necessary support when dealing with a terminal illness, so sending over a volunteer while they’re at the hospital would be such a saving grace,” Kaufman said. “If we can do something to make their lives easier, it makes me feel privileged and hopeful. It’s these children’s time to shine, and i-Shine illuminates their world at a time when it’s the darkest.”

For more information about i-Shine, contact Andy Lauber at (917) 763-1109 or email ALauber@ChaiLifeline.org.

The Nassau Herald is the general circulation newspaper of the Five Towns communities. It is published by Richner Communicaitons, parent company of The Jewish Star.

A complete report on People of the Year and i-Shine appears in this week’s Herald.