Friends of Sascha Julia Franzel wish they could have celebrated her 20th birthday in Chabad's sukkah at Colorado State University. Instead they will be commemorating her bright spirit and promise at Chabad's "Shabbat 200" a dinner dedicated to her memory to be held at a ballroom on campus Nov. 4. 

The dinner will bring all types of students together. The night will be joyous, "full of song and laughter -- like Sascha," said Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelik, who co-directs Rohr Chabad Jewish Student Center of Northern Colorado with wife Devorah Leah. 

Sascha Franzel passed away following an acute asthma attack in her apartment on September 11. Sascha was active on the board of Chabad at CSU, and a favorite of the Goreliks'  children. "She was closest friends with everyone she met," said roommate Rebecca Schwartz. 

A pre-med student in her junior year, Sascha dreamt of becoming a pediatric craniofacial surgeon. She spent three years volunteering as a transporter in the emergency department of Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children near her home in Honolulu. She also volunteered with Special Olympics, Relay for Life, and the American Cancer Society.

"She never bragged about anything and we did not know how many lives she changed and touched. She was the doctor of souls and left us a far better world," her parents David and Sonia Franzel told Lubavitch.com. 

Growing up in Honolulu, Sascha attended Talmud Torah from age two onward and received her first siddur from Chabad representative Pearl Krasnjansky in 2005 while studying at Chabad of Hawaii's Daniel Levey Hebrew School. When Sascha chose to study at Colorado State University, not far from slopes of Steamboat Springs, CO, where she was a children's ski instructor, Sonia emailed Rabbi Gorelik in hopes that Sascha would find a spiritual home away from home.

Sascha joined the student board at Chabad and became part of a close-knit group of students who plan, promote and attend Jewish campus activities. She was an active member of Hillel of CSU, as well. To further her involvement with Jewish life, Sascha had plans to attend Chabad on Campus's conference in New York this November and Birthright Israel in December. 

During the summer Sascha kept in touch with Rabbi Gorelik "almost daily," according her father. "Rabbi Gorelik is not only a spiritual leader but also a father figure to all the students." 

When the Franzels arrived the hospital after the tragic news reached them, they found Rabbi Gorelik standing vigil as Jewish practice prescribes. Rabbi Gorelik helped the Franzels arrange the funeral. Chabad hosted the shiva in the student center and organized a memorial service attended by some 200 students. 

In honor of Sascha's birthday, her parents directed donations in their daughter's memory to Chabad. They established Sascha Julia Franzel Memorial Life Funds in support of causes their daughter championed. Still reeling from their loss, the Franzels are finding a measure of comfort in the mitzvot done in Sascha's memory.

"We believe that Hashem took her at this time to provide a positive balance to the negativity in the world and is counting on us to fulfill Sascha's legacy of helping others."