A friend for you and your car

By Daniella Adler

Feb. 26, 2010 / 12 Adar 5770

A true friend has been defined as someone you can call at 2:00 in the morning when you’re stuck on the side of the road; everyone else is an acquaintance. You may have more friends than you think.

If you find yourself stuck on 878 with a flat or stalled on the Van Wyck, you can call your friends, known by their Hebrew name: Chaverim.

“We’re a AAA for chesed,” explained Mayer Kramer, who founded Chaverim of the Five Towns and Rockaways, a non-profit organization that provides roadside assistance free of charge. It’s based on an organization that originated in Brooklyn and has been replicated in various Jewish communities.

“Anyone who needs a boost, has a flat, or locked their keys in the car, can call the hotline,” Kramer said.

Chaverim, like Hatzalah, is composed of an informal network of volunteers. Each works full-time but drops what he’s doing to go help people in need. The group services the Five Towns, Bayswater, Far Rockaway and Belle Harbor, as well as locations deeper in Long Island if the need arises.

The organization was started seven years ago. It boasts 20 active volunteers who manage to respond to calls in 10 or 15 minutes, making Chaverim a strong alternative to the AAA.

“We have equipment that covers any [eventuality],” explained Kramer.

Each volunteer is supplied with a jack for flat tires, locked-out kits for homes and cars, booster packs, spare gasoline and other equipment. Volunteers are trained on all of their gear, which is paid for solely by donations. They carry the equipment in their cars to be able to respond from wherever they are: home, work, or even out doing errands.

Donations also fund the telecommunications equipment, including the telephone hotline, which is also manned by volunteers.

Chaverim manages to help a lot of people with only a small number of volunteers, but donations for the equipment are needed.

“Chaverim members are eager to volunteer,” Kramer explained. “Equipment, on the other hand, doesn’t volunteer.”

Volunteers don’t need to be “super-handy,” Kramer said, and volunteers are all ages; just so long as they’re willing to help.

Binyamin Lipsky’s day job is executive director of Bnos Bais Yaakov in Far Rockaway, but he also coordinates the day-to-day activities of Chaverim. He manages the volunteers who take calls on the hotline and forward those calls to volunteers in the field. In an open letter to local shuls, Chaverim called itself a “community-wide service organization that benefits everyone.” Though the organization caters to the Jewish community, Kramer pointed out that many a Kiddush Hashem has been made when volunteers stop on the road to help out non-Jews.

“At 2 in the morning, in the rain, in the snow — it doesn’t matter,” said Kramer. “We’re just here to help people.”

More information about Chaverim is online at chaverim5t.org. The hotline number is 718-337-1800. If you find yourself locked out, have a flat tire, need a boost, or run out of gas, give them a call. A friend will be right over.