Ariel Ferman

Congregation B’nai Amoona

In choosing her mitzvah project, Ariel Ferman wanted it to relate to her Torah portion, “Lech L’cha”, which means “To Go Forth.” In it, God tells Abraham to leave home and go far away from his homeland. He leaves home and all that is familiar to him. Ariel chose to support our soldiers overseas who, like Abraham, are so far away from their friends, family, and all that is familiar.

After researching different organizations that assist soldiers, Ariel chose to support the USO as well as adopt a soldier through A Soldier’s Wish List (ASWL). She wanted to let the men and women serving our country know how appreciated they are by donating items they could use. Ariel contacted her friends and family for their assistance and collected large amounts of personal items, food, games, and magazines. She also sent thank-you notes to the soldiers thanking them for risking their lives everyday.

Ariel, daughter of Susan and David Ferman of Wildwood, felt very proud of herself when she sent out the e-mails about her project to friends and family. She felt that she was doing something that would make the soldiers feel happy and know that they are not forgotten. Ariel said, “They are doing so much for us everyday, risking their lives to defend our country, so we are giving them our thanks by donating the items. The soldiers need to know how much we appreciate them and that we are thinking about them.”

In addition to the items that were donated to the USO, Ariel and her family send a care package each month to her adopted soldier, who is from Washington, Mo. They occasionally speak with his mother to find out what he needs. Sometimes it is items like combat socks, batteries, hand warmers, flashlights, and plenty of snack food. A student at Rockwood Valley Middle School, Ariel hopes to meet her soldier upon his return from Iraq.

A Soldier’s Wish List is a non-profit organization established in 2003 to support our troops serving in combat zones. Their goal is to fulfill the wishes of our troops to the best of their abilities. This is a small way of letting our brave troopers know that we care about them and appreciate their sacrifices. They match troopers to volunteers who would like to send care packages to their own “adopted” trooper. For more information about ASWL, go to www.asoldierwishlist.org.