Out of the Mouths of Babes!

At Herzl, a local Jewish Day School, each grade chooses a mitzvah (good deed) project for the duration of the school year. The 4th grade students and teachers chose JFS this year. Tracey Douglas, one of the parents, says, "The kids collect weekly tzedakah (charity) money, and we are also trying to include other ways of giving/becoming involved and hope that the team will gain an understanding of your wonderful organization. We had a Thanksgiving drive for the Food Pantry in November (the students had visited the Panty in kindergarten), we bagged rice in April, and we are going to plant flowers at the JFS Group Home in May."

Below are a few of the letters we received from the 4th grade students:

"It felt wonderful to help somebody, especially someone who truly needed it. Cause when you're in need for food, health, shelter, and a loving group of friends and family, it really warms not only one heart, but two special, happy hearts and I'm happy to be one of them." - Alice

"Dear JFS, When I bagged the rice, I imagined that I was the family that received the bag. I felt the family's joy to have dinner that night and I felt proud to bag the rice." - Alison

"I think Jewish Family Services is a great charity to donate to. Because for this charity it doesn't take anything fancy shmancy to put a smile on a family's face, and when you know you made someone happy, that happiness spreads to you. When I was packaging the bags of rice to donate to families, I thought to myself, 'Wow, I accomplished something. I put a smile on someone's face,' and that felt amazing to me." - Arielle

"I think that JFS is a cool service. They help people have a life. When I was helping packaging the rice, each grain meant I was helping a family in the JFS and the world, so when I did that it felt very good to my heart. If everybody did it, the world would be perfect!" - Zev

If you would like to bag rice for the Weinberg Food Pantry or are interested in another group project, please contact Nancy Benyamin at (303) 597.5000 x369.