Dear Rabbi Wolkenfeld,

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to you and all the supporters of the Child Life Society for the wonderful trip to Key West. This was, without a doubt, one of the best vacations we have ever had. The children were delighted with the trip. The sea air was great for our daughter. We noticed, as did she, that she coughed significantly less after being there only a few days. This despite the fact that she actually was uncharacteristically non-compliant with doing any of her medical treatments, which nearly always results in a severe cough! I have to conclude that there must be something substantive to the studies I’ve seen about the salt sea air being good for CF patients!

I am sure that it was truly a benefit to her health to be able to get away from the cold winter weather in the middle of cold and flu season.

As a family we enjoyed the rest and relaxation and the abundance of outdoor activities in Key West. One day we walked along the beach and boardwalk. Another day we went fishing from the pier. My husband and son went scuba diving while our daughter went snorkeling (on the open ocean for her very first time!) one morning and deep sea fishing in the afternoon. As you can see from the pictures, the children also got to swim with dolphins and rays. Swimming with dolphins has been a dream of our daughter’s for many years, so this was certainly the highlight of the trip.

We also enjoyed going to the pool and the beach several times. We enjoyed one day at the Fort Zachary Taylor Beach swimming, snorkeling, and fishing. The slower pace of life in Key West is wonderful—no traffic jams, no honking horns, the friendliness of the people. There were many other activities that we wanted to do, but we just did not have enough time to do them. Our children are already looking forward to our next trip to Key West. The best part is that in comparison to other places we’ve been with the kids, we didn’t have to fight with them to get them to agree on things to do. BOTH of the children had lots of fun poking around Mallory Square, especially when we rented one of the electric cars! They got a kick seeing the chickens too- now we have a collection started at home….

In past years the respite trips were in Arizona. We talked it over, and observed that besides the health benefits; the convenience of being “there” as soon as you get off of the plane in AZ (vs. a 4hr drive to Key West) is outweighed by the prettier scenery, nice people and wide variety of activities. Plus, Key West is an easy place to just laze around and do nothing in too!

We would also like to thank you for the generosity you showed us in providing for our meals on Shabbos. Not only was the food tasty, not having to cook enabled us to relax and fully enjoy nearly the entire day each Friday “being tourists” instead of spending the day preparing our meals. It also made for a much less stressful day since we didn’t have to figure out HOW to cook it all without a kosher kitchen or how to store it. This is one area that will be FAR easier once you have built your permanent respite house. Then everyone will have a kosher kitchen available to use. That alone will make life easier for all of the families.

In closing, we want to thank you again for enabling our daughter to get a chance to relax, unwind and get away from the stress of her every day life. Having CF is tough enough, but adding 2 hours of treatments to a 9 to 12 hour school day is tiring. What you do for families like us means more than you can know. May Hashem bless you and help you in all your work.

With gratitude,

Bert and Tzipporah Z.