Benjamin will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah on May 3, 2008 at Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation.
Benjamin is the son of Patricia Blount and Ilan Zawadzki of Mercer Island and the brother of Miriam and Jonathan. He is the grandson of Judge Clarence Blount and Augusta Arnold Blount of Georgia and Reuben Zawadzki and Debora Anski Zawadzki of New York.
Benjamin is in the 7th grade at Islander Middle School. He enjoys basketball, snow skiing and reading fantasy novels, particularly the Harry Potter books. For his mitzvah project, Benjamin is participating in the Darfur backpack project sponsored by the Jewish World Watch, which provides backpacks containing books, toiletries, shoes and other items to school-age children who are refugees from the Darfur genocide and residents in the Oure Cassoni refugee camp in Chad.