Birthdays, barbeques, or just because. Every few weeks, Tantzers brings 10-20 families together with music, entertainment, food, and gifts. (Birthday children go home with bonus gifts!) But the biggest gift is to the parents, enjoying time together, watching their children relax and have fun.
Programs
Non-Stop Action to Bring Happiness and Healing
Events
‘Round the Year Relief for the Entire Family
At Tantzers, we think BIG. Every event is jam-packed with excitement, entertainment, and energy. We arrange shows, refreshments, and dancing, and every child leaves with a gift. Families have many opportunities to join us, with activities for every age.
But our commitment goes beyond organized events. Wherever we’re needed, we’re there because there are no obstacles when it comes to family.
PARTIES
PARTIES
EVENTS
EVENTS
Tantzers hosts four major events a year for our entire Tantzers family: Chanukah Extravaganza, Purim Party, Couples’ Night Out, and Mother-Daughter Activity. Our events draw hundreds of participants, tens of volunteers, and countless smiles.
TRIPS
TRIPS
Jump into the Tantzers-mobile for bowling, laser tag, an arcade, and fireworks-all on one trip! And how about swimming, snow tubing, or a jumping zone? On Tantzers trips, you won’t be able to pick out the patients. All you’ll see are happy faces.
Tantzers Family Center
Daily Structure, Supervision, and Support
Programs and events are wonderful, but many families still suffer in their day-to-day lives. With parents in the hospital, the children are home alone. They are on their own for snacks, meals, homework, and entertainment. Worse, the children struggle to process their pain. The new Tantzers Family Center is a home away from home. For two hours a night, including Shabbos, kids ages 3 and up come to play games, read comics (English or Yiddish!), do homework, and eat snacks and supper. We have trained volunteers that give them chizuk and help them sort out their feelings.
Chizuk
Giving Families the Strength to Go On
We believe that filling emotional needs is just as important as meeting physical ones. When a family gets a diagnosis, they’re thrown into a lonely, overwhelming new world. We bring caring and human connection back into their lives.
Knowing that someone cares. Finding other families that understand. This is what keeps a family going even in unimaginable stress and pain.
HOSPITAL VISITS
HOSPITAL VISITS
Once a week, Tantzers goes to hospitals to sing with the patients, bring them food, and give them presents. We visit all the large NY hospitals, such as Sloan Kettering, Columbia, Cornell, NYU, and Hackensack. We’ll travel even farther when needed in the tri-state area and beyond!
SUPPORT GROUPS & RETREATS
SUPPORT GROUPS & RETREATS
The biggest comfort is finding an understanding, listening ear. Mothers meet, go out to eat, and bond over shared experiences. Parents’ retreats give mothers and fathers precious time to connect with other adults who understand their experiences.
Lifted Out of the Heaviness
We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts: we greatly appreciate the Chanukah Extravaganza! We literally felt lifted out of the heaviness, onto the clouds. It was SO beautifully done, with so much heart to every little (and not so little…) detail! The environment was so therapeutic!
Mr. and Mrs. M.
Simchas
Even when a family is in medical crisis, a simcha should still be a night of happiness. Tantzers steps in to help families organize the simcha they may not have time to arrange.
Tantzers volunteers also come to the simcha with contagious ruach and energy from beginning to end. Across the tri-State area, when people see Tantzers, they know it’s time to dance!
WEDDINGS
WEDDINGS
A family facing serious illness may not have the resources to arrange a typical wedding. From music to photographers to shtick, Tantzers makes sure the night is complete. And our 400 volunteers (250 men and 150 women) dance at more than 60 weddings yearly!
BAR MITZVAS
BAR MITZVAS
A bar mitzvah should be the highlight of a boy’s life! But a young man with illness or special circumstances may not have the friends to fill his bar mitzvah. Tantzers’ volunteers step in, attending as many as three bar mitzvahs a night!
An Unforgettable Night
The weeks leading up to our son’s Bar Mitzvah were very apprehensive to say the least. Making a simcha for a child with illness is very challenging. There are no words to describe what Tantzers did for our family. They showed up to the Simcha and created such an exciting atmosphere. Everyone was blown away by the dancing and how Tantzers knew how to include everyone…they turned it into an unforgettable night.
Mr. & Mrs. K.
Case Study:
Making a Wedding Complete
The Rosenblatt family (names changed) was devastated when Mr. Rosenblatt became too ill to leave the hospital for his daughter’s wedding. Tantzers stepped in, setting up a beautiful chuppah in the hospital so Mr. Rosenblatt could attend. At least for that moment, the family was complete.
Afterward, Tantzers went to the wedding for simchas chosson v’kallah. The dancing lasted for hours. At the hospital, a few Tantzers volunteers stayed with Mr. Rosenblatt and held a mitzvah tantz. The nurses came, too, creating a big kiddush Hashem. Tantzers gave the chosson, kallah, parents, and entire family the gift of a memorable, happy wedding.
