Youth Helping Youth: Temple Bake Sale Helps Israeli Youth Villages and More

When the Social Action Committee of Temple Beth-El on Route 206 decided to hold a bake sale to benefit the Yemin Orde Youth Villages in Israel, they had no idea how much further the project would reach.

Yemin Orde aids at-risk youths with counseling, food, shelter and education. Recent wildfires in Israel caused a great deal of damage to these villages and money is being raised to help them rebuild and meet the needs of the children they serve.

Robin Osman, co-chairperson for the Social Action Committee, explained that the group had done bake sales before but none had received the level of response this one received.

“There were a lot of places to donate to help those impacted by the fires," she said.  "We chose this particular set of youth villages because the Jewish Federation of Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren Counties would match our donation, dollar-for-dollar.  Plus, it was a good example of youth helping youth.”

With the help of the fifth-grade classes of Temple Beth-El’s Hebrew School, where teacher Stacy Boxer’s students made posters and were among the many temple members who brought in baked goods and joined the more than 20 volunteers on sale day, and the Youth Group, led by Gari Bloom and Rabbi Elisa Koppel, the event raised $600 -- $300 in actual sales and $300 in matching funds.

The fact that items sold for $1 each makes the $300 raised even more significant.

“It was really a great day for us. The whole community pulled together for this cause,” said Osman.

In fact, there were more baked goods than they could sell. Not wanting to let the leftovers go to waste, Osman and the volunteers took enough to the Agape House to feed the 45 residents of the Somerville homeless shelter. They also donated to the Somerset Youth Shelter in Bridgewater and Samaritan Homeless Interim Program, which provides food, medical and other services to the needy in Somerset County.

They even took a plate of baked goods to the staff at the Somerset County Food Bank “to thank them for their good work,” Osman added.

“A lot of people helped,” she said. “Our community really likes to help.”