JFCS Spotlight - February 2024

Schools provide an environment for our kids to learn and grow. Much of that learning comes from books and lectures and by absorbing knowledge from teachers and fellow students. When teaching children of all ages about the importance of being responsible community members, it is the "doing" that instills in them the desire to do chesed (kindness) and care for others.

That is why JFCS values its important partnerships with our local schools. Our Corner Market Kosher Food Pantry is a hub for student volunteering, offering a wide variety of opportunities to give back to our community. From stocking and organizing the pantry shelves to putting together emergency snack kits, students are introduced to the many ways they can be a vital part of the social service and food insecurity safety net that JFCS provides to those who need our help.

All year-round students volunteer at JFCS. They commemorate specific holidays or occasions, entire classes work with us to create unique mitzvah projects, and children and teens often become inspired through their school projects and follow up with their own personal volunteerism.

Here are examples of some of the chesed projects students have done while volunteering with JFCS. Kol Hakavod and Thank You to these and the many hundreds of other students who volunteer with us to make our community thrive.

High school students from Ma'ayanot created gift baskets for our Older Adult and Survivor clients.
Middle Schoolers from the Community Hebrew School of Bergen County put together gift bags for our Survivor clients who attend our Café Europa program.
Students from Yeshivat He'Atid organized a food drive for our food pantry.
Temple Emeth Religious School students stocked and organized our food pantry shelves.
Elementary school-aged students from Yeshivat Noam created emergency packages, snack packs, and "Thinking of You" cards for our older adult clients.
Yavneh Academy's students ran a canned food drive over Chanukah.
1st and 2nd graders from Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County made snack packs, dental kits, and spice bundles for our food pantry clients and Purim cards for our older adult clients.

What can be achieved by our youngest volunteers is incredible. Seeing these students hard at work proves that our community's future is in great hands.

Dear JFCS Family,

I am always so proud of the children and teens who learn about JFCS and become genuinely excited about the prospect of helping others who may be less fortunate than them. It is so gratifying to see and listen to them on their field trips to our Teaneck offices and look into the future to see engaged, generous, and loving adults who deeply feel and understand the heavy responsibility of tikkun olam.

The truth is that we are eternally grateful to all of you, from the youngest to the oldest, who volunteer, serve as leadership, contribute precious resources, and participate in any way to JFCS delivering essential services to those who need us.

With awe and appreciation,

Susan