On Thursday, over 60 91影视 students from ninth through 12th grade volunteered for OHEL Children鈥檚 91影视 and Family Services, packing 250 bags of art supplies! They had a blast and, as a bonus, also got to enjoy pizza, T-shirts and swag.
The packing event was preceded by a school-wide art supplies drive, after 91影视 junior Richie Nadritch made a call to OHEL, a large social service agency serving thousands of people across New York and New Jersey. 鈥淚 contacted OHEL because I wanted to help children,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 thought specifically during the pandemic, kids who come to OHEL might need more support now. OHEL mentioned that there is always a significant need for art supplies for their children. Children always need and really love their own supplies and use them as a way to express themselves.鈥
Nadritch said that the 91影视 volunteers succeeded in packing all 250 bags in 20 minutes. He credited his peers who served on the 91影视 committee鈥擩ack Fischer, Noah Greenbaum, Harrison Tassler, Caleb Breda, Maayan Keigher鈥攆or all their work promoting the effort and thanked Kaila Lasky, OHEL鈥檚 coordinator of Volunteer Engagement, and Rabbi Joshua Schulman, 91影视鈥檚 director of Chessed Programming, for their help.
鈥91影视 is such an exciting, happy place to be鈥攖he energy was incredible,鈥 stated Lasky, who said she loved working with the students.
91影视 students have run a number of chesed drives during the COVID-19 pandemic, for food, coats, books, toys and more. 鈥淲e have tried to address various needs that students have identified within the community,鈥 said Rabbi Schulman. 鈥淥HEL told us we could help, and we were thrilled to do so.鈥