UJA Teens Feed the Homeless and Girls Scouts Fight Flu

More than 160 Westchester teens came together at UJA-Federation of New York offices in White Plains to sort and pack donated food, enough to feed more than 2,000 homeless and underprivileged people in the area for a month. While these teen volunteers checked expiration dates, grouping and packing food by category, they experienced how together as a community they can make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate.

The teens were participating in UJA-Federation’s Families Feeding Families, a collaborative effort involving more than 31 Westchester synagogues, area Jewish Community Centers, teen groups, community organizations, and individuals. The donated food went to clients at Westchester Jewish Community Services and the food pantry run by the Bronx Jewish Community Council, both UJA-Federation beneficiary agencies.

Liz Schnitzer and Stephanie Tessler of Scarsdale and their daughters, Kate Schnitzer and Marlee Baumberg, chaired this effort.

“Families Feeding Families is the ultimate team effort of committed individuals, organizations, and synagogues working toward a common goal,” says Tessler. “It's amazing to see the kids at work during the afternoon of sorting and packing. They take such pride in the work they’re doing and in the knowledge that they’re making a difference for their neighbors in need.”

The food sorting and packing took place in conjunction with UJA-Federation’s Super Sunday phone-a-thon, a day on which volunteers and staff make more than 1,000 phone calls, raising funds to sustain the activities of more than 100 health, human-service, educational, and community agencies that change lives. For more information, please visit www.ujafedny.org.

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Scarsdale Girl Scout Hannah Cooperman has created a fun, hands-on curriculum to educate children about influenza. The curriculum teaches how to prevent, recognize, and treat the flu. Hannah created the program as a Girl Scout Gold Award project and trained fellow Scarsdale High School tenth graders Angela Chang, Helen Clapp, Julia Cotter, Veronica Dickson, Nicolai Ferraris , Marc Hersch, Brittany Kaplan, and Sophia Marques to implement the program, which was successfully piloted with White Plains Girl Scout Troop 8003 on Friday, January 27th. Organizations interested in the program should visit https://sites.google.com/site/gsflufighters/