[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 85 (Friday, June 18, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1158]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO RABBI ELIMELECH DAVID GOLDBERG

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOE KNOLLENBERG

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 17, 2004

  Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Rabbi 
Elimelech David Goldberg, the founder and National Director of Kids 
Kicking Cancer. Rabbi Goldberg is one of 10 outstanding individuals 
from across the country selected this year to receive a Robert Wood 
Johnson Community Health Leadership award.
  Over a decade ago, Rabbi Goldberg experienced the painful loss of his 
2-year-old child during a bone marrow transplant for lymphocytic 
leukemia. Later, when he was approached to run a camp for children with 
cancer, he at first refused, fearing it would be too painful. On 
further reflection, he saw the opportunity to help other children in 
pain as a way to give meaning to the life of his daughter, and he 
embraced the challenge. Rabbi Goldberg's training as a black belt 
convinced him that karate could be a powerful aid to pain management 
and empowerment for young patients, enabling them to heal physically, 
emotionally, and spiritually.
  When Rabbi Goldberg incorporated martial arts therapy into the 
program of the oncology camp in 1996, the results were dramatic. 
Children were encouraged to envision themselves not as cancer victims, 
but as healthy kids with tumors. They learned to control their fear and 
pain within a community of peer support that mitigated the isolation of 
illness. Following this success, with the aid of a small grant, he 
created a pilot program at Children's Hospital of Detroit in March 
1998.
  When he incorporated the Kids Kicking Cancer organization in 1999, 
Rabbi Goldberg gave up his rabbinic congregation, active counseling 
practice, and directorship of the oncology camp. Today, ten social 
workers and child life specialists who are also martial arts teachers 
give weekly classes, accompany children to painful clinic visits, and 
visit them at home. There is also a hospice program for patients whose 
cancers are not responding to treatment. Kids Kicking Cancer has been 
working with over 400 children in Michigan, and is now starting Kids 
Kicking Sickle Cell in Michigan and Brooklyn, NY.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend Rabbi Elimelech David Goldberg for his 
accomplishments as founder of Kids Kicking Cancer and for his efforts 
put forth in achieving a 2004 Robert Wood Johnson Community Health 
Leadership Program award.

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