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Zachary Peskin, Founder
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In early 2007, high school student Zachary Peskin founded Special People Helping Others, Inc (SpPHO) ― an organization designed to create meaningful opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities to build self-esteem and social awareness by helping others.
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Early on, Zachary observed his family and various practitioners interacting with his older brother, Adam, who is autistic. Zachary was keenly aware of Adam's eagerness to help friends, family and the community in various ways and the satisfaction and enthusiasm that Adam displayed at the completion of each activity. Helping and supporting others gave him joy ― from making pancakes for the family (an activity he learned at school) to helping his teachers prepare and clean up the classroom. Zachary also observed this eagerness to help others while conducting the Special Needs Tennis Program which he founded for children and adolescents with disabilities. Over the last few years, Zachary noted that the highlight of each participant's experience focused not necessarily on playing tennis, but on helping to pick up the tennis balls at the end of each game. Similar to the empowerment that all individuals feel when helping others, those with developmental disabilities experience these same feelings of worth and contribution. SpPHO is based on these observations and the larger premise that individuals with developmental disabilities can achieve exceptional benefits in personal growth by helping others, while simultaneously demonstrating their ability to be a positive force in our communities.
Zachary's efforts with SpPHO were recently recognized by WMTR-AM Radio (Cedar Knolls, NJ) with the Kids Who Rock Award. In addition to his commitment to SpPHO, Zachary is a USTA-ranked junior tennis player and a member of the Millburn varsity tennis team. He is the founder of the Special Needs Tennis Program for adolescents and children with disabilities, member of the Millburn High School Peer Leaders (Millburn, NJ) and an editor of The Miller, the Millburn High School newspaper. Zachary is an avid reader, particularly in the area of economics, and has conducted professor-supervised research related to the modeling of economic and social impacts of international exchange rate dynamics.
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TRUSTEES: To develop an appropriate organizational structure, Zachary recruited three individuals with significant expertise and experience to serve as the Board of Trustees:
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Howard B. Culang, President
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Mr. Culang has an extensive business and financial management background. He is currently owner of Laurel Corporation, a privately held financial services company. His previous experience includes being a founding partner and Vice-Chairman of Prudential Home Mortgage, and a Vice President and senior credit officer of Citibank. He currently is a member of the Board of Directors of Radian Group Inc. (RDN:NYSE). Over the years, Mr. Culang has been actively involved in numerous philanthropic organizations and charitable activities.
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Joel Siegel, Esquire, Secretary
Mr. Siegel is a founding partner of the law firm of Orloff, Lowenbach, Stifelman & Siegel. Mr. Siegel’s extensive professional experience includes legal and tax counseling relating to non-profit entities. Mr. Siegel has served, and continues to serve, in senior advisory capacities with other non-profit entities. |
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Ellen Le Vine, Treasurer
Ms. Le Vine has many years of experience as both a pre-school and middle school teacher and has taught children from a variety of backgrounds. Ms. Le Vine also has an extensive administrative background serving as business manager for a significant closely held business for a number of years. In addition, Ms Le Vine served on the auxiliary board of a major hospital where she initiated and chaired many fund raising programs.
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PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT: In addition, Special People Helping Others, Inc is fortunate to have the support of the following professionals:
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Throughout my life I have observed that individuals with developmental disabilities are typically the recipients of charitable support. It has been my personal experience, though, that these individuals are actually happiest when they have the opportunity to also make a difference ― even if in very simple ways. Based on this premise, I have created SpPHO to give individuals with developmental disabilities the chance to build self-esteem and social awareness by helping others.
