Daniel Pomerantz

Congregation Shaare Emeth

Daniel loves to help kids with disabilities and felt that it would make a great mitzvah project for himself. Son of Melissa and Andrew Pomerantz of University City, Daniel volunteered with Challenger Baseball, a special league for youth and adults with developmental disabilities.

For the past four years, Daniel has been a “buddy” for the program. His responsibilities were to push players using wheelchairs around the bases after a hit and help players get balls that get past them in the field.

As Daniel put it, “First you just get to know them. Then we start to play catch and talk a little more. Then we play ball. We can help as much as they need us to, whether it’s swinging the bat or stepping in front of the ball so it won’t hit them. There are two teams playing against each other, but the friendly environment is great.

“I love it so much and I really feel like I’ve made great friends with my buddies, some kids I even had as a buddy more than twice, and we really got to know each other,” continued Daniel, a student at Brittany Woods Middle School.

Two of Daniel’s favorite memories were when his buddy Terry would hit the ball, run around wherever she wants, really fast and usually past first base, and then goes to hug her mom. Another is of Dominic, who slid into every single base.