FOR A GOOD CAUSE:An early start on charity work

For Chase and Josh Roossin’s bar mitzvah projects, they’ve chosen to celebrate a rite of passage other than their own.

The Newport Coast brothers, who attend school at Tarbut V’Torah in Irvine, have spent the last several months filming a video and organizing a fundraiser for the start-up nonprofit Wonder Works Therapy. To date, the boys have raised more than $300 for the group — money that will go to business cards, literature and other expenses — and plan to host a silent auction and wine-tasting on Thursday.

“We never could have thrown something like this without the help of the boys,” said Heidi Wu, the co-founder of Wonder Works. “For their project, they’ve taken it upon themselves to help us launch.”

Chase, 12, and Josh, 11, will observe their bar mitzvahs — a Jewish rite of passage for boys turning 13 — at different times, but they are doing their projects simultaneously. Initially, they tried selling lemonade to raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims. When that endeavor didn’t net many funds, they turned to Wu, their former piano teacher, who had recently founded Wonder Works with a friend.

The company, which is applying for its nonprofit license, offers four kinds of therapy for people suffering from cancer and other conditions: music, movement, art and pets. It was the last one that appealed to the Roossins, who own three dogs of their own. Chase volunteered to join Wu in assisting local pet therapists, and soon he and his brother began crafting a 45-minute informational video on Wonder Works’ services.

At one point, Chase and Josh filmed an interview with the mother of a girl who had died of cancer, and who had undergone pet therapy — in which experts bring in trained animals to work with patients — during her final months.

“I’m a really big pet person,” Josh said. “No matter how you’re feeling, when you see your dog coming, it just makes your day better.”

The boys’ mother, Pamela Roossin, said that charity has been part of their upbringing. When Josh was 5, he donated all his money to families of Sept. 11 victims.

“The kids are always trying to make a difference and help people instead of looking out for material things in life,” she said. “I think that’s awesome, because they live in a very materialistic world.”

Thursday, at the Newport Coast home of mortgage businessman Glenn Stearns and his wife, TV personality Mindy Stearns, the boys’ video will kick off a fundraising evening for Wonder Works. Over the next year, Chase and Josh want to continue volunteering for the nonprofit, and even plan to offer one of their dogs for therapy.

“They understand how special that is when you have a dog you communicate with, so I think they could identify with this project,” said Connie Jankowski, the other founder of Wonder Works. “But the scope of the efforts they’ve taken on are pretty unusual for kids of that age.”