Vice President
Two things are true simultaneously: It is hard to describe Overbrook School for the Blind without mentioning Board Vice President Sid Rosenblatt, and it is hard to describe Sid Rosenblatt without mentioning OSB.
The school owes the beauty of many of its crown jewels to Rosenblatt’s continuing generosity: The Horticulture Center that bears his late wife’s name, the state-of-the-art aquatics center so crucial to the physical development and confidence of so many of the school’s students and most recently even the renovated auditorium that showcases musical and performance skills, honors achievements and graduations, and offers various forms of entertainment throughout the school year.
Even the ceramic kiln, critical to teacher Susan DiFabio’s ambitious efforts can be traced back to the Rosenblatt Family Charitable Fund.
It's a symbiotic relationship, Sid has insisted often.
“It’s a cause that allows me as a donor to make a difference,” he says of the Rosenblatt Family Charitable Fund, which also involves his son David and daughter Brooke. “We can see the results from the support we provide. I look at the students, all of whom have challenges to overcome, and in their home communities, they are looked at differently than their non-disabled peers. At OSB, they are looked at as children and do all the things that all children do—learning, socializing, playing, laughing. They are free to be children, and to me, that’s the most wonderful thing.”
There are so many examples of that throughout the campus of course, but the M. Christine Murphy Horticulture and Education Center, named for his late wife, holds a special place in his heart.
It was Christine who first became involved in OSB when the family lived across from the campus, first as a volunteer and later as a board member herself.
“That was one of the best experiences I’ve had giving a gift to OSB, building it, and naming it,” Rosenblatt once said. “Every year, seeds are planted, and growth takes place there, and it reminds me of Christine and everything she loved.”
“She was passionate about the school. It always had a place in her heart.”
She transferred that to her husband, and their two children. “We have supported and will continue to support OSB,” he has said. “We want to make a difference in the lives of these students.”
