Nonprofit holds interactive shopping experience for students with special needs in Livingston
LIVINGSTON, New Jersey (WABC) -- A New Jersey nonprofit held an interactive shopping experience for students with special needs in Livingston.
LifeTown, which offers kids with special needs life skills to help them flourish, teamed up with more than a dozen storefronts so the students could put practice to what they learn.
The children got to play as adults for two fun-filled hours. They would start their "Adult Day" at the bank, withdraw their spending cash, and then run their errands.
"It's so amazing to see the children come here who get to come here and learn life skills in a real setting," said Rabbi Zalman Grossbaum, CEO of Friendship Circle & LifeTown. "They learn skills in the classroom and then apply it in the real world."
The students were also escorted by their teaching helpers, while all the storekeepers -- nail technicians, bankers, traffic cops -- volunteered for the event. Those volunteers were joined by state lawmakers who took on job duties for the event. The educational program received $500,000 from the state.
New Jersey Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin played a traffic cop.
"It was terrific to see the kids driving around paying attention looking for my sign to say go or stop," Coughlin said.
The students ranged from kindergarten up to fourth grade from Garfield, Edgewater and Waldwick. Schools across the state sign up to give students and their teachers this experience.
"It's just so incredible to see children being children," said New Jersey Assembly Member Alixon Collazos-Gill.
More than 35,000 students a year visit LifeTown to learn and play.
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