Jason Capossere wraps the gifts.
Visitors to the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus frequently see the observant, dedicated and serious demeanor of Jason Capossere, the Campus’s manager of safety and security.
Beneath this professional exterior, rarely seen and largely unheralded, is Capossere’s compassion and devotion to making kids’ lives better—in particular the students at Hebrew Academy of Tidewater and the teenagers in crisis temporarily living at Seton Youth Shelters in Virginia Beach.
By holding carwashes in the Campus parking lot, Capossere raises money for projects to help these children. The majority of funds are designated for a 3D printer for HAT, but every year Capossere sets aside a small amount to help ensure that youths living at the Seton House have a memorable Christmas.
This year, as he has for the past decade, Capossere purchased, wrapped and delivered presents to Seton House residents on December 24, brightening lives and instilling hope for better things to come.
“To see the looks on the kids’ faces,” Capossere says, “when basically they have nothing and have learned not to expect anything–to get something of their own— is why I keep doing it.”
In addition to a few weeks of carwash funds and his own expenditures on gifts, Capossere had help this holiday season. Community members and colleagues aware of his mission donated funds, gently used clothing and age-appropriate presents, and fellow employees, including Campus operations coordinator Benita Watts, Deb Segaloff and Sherry Lieberman, Simon Family JCC’s senior adult program coordinator, assisted with wrapping.
“One Christmas Eve, I saw him surrounded by presents and asked what he was doing and if I could help,” says Watts. “Now it’s something Sherry and I have been doing too, for at least three years. Jason does so much for others, people have no idea what a good guy he is.”
by Laine Mednick Rutherford