We are celebrating our Bat Mitzvah in March and part of the process of preparing for this momentous occasion is to complete a mitzvah project which can be performed in many ways. But as twin 13 year olds, we found it extremely difficult to find a way to do that. There are not many volunteer opportunities available to work with children for people under 18 years of age but our Mom made a lucky connection with the people at the United Way. Our helpful contact, Danielle, came to the rescue by offering us an amazing opportunity…to volunteer and be in charge of a room at the Safe Trick or Treat event held at the GE building.
We had an initial meeting with Danielle to go over expectations, the importance of the United Way theme, “Be a Superhero”, and some other important details. We were so excited to start planning that we went directly to Party City to get some ideas. Each of us found a superhero costume including our Mom! We decided to decorate the room like a bat cave with black plastic tablecloths on the walls and cover them with a ton of superhero logos we found on the internet. We also wanted to inspire the children and put messages on the walls as well. We thought long and hard on what the message should say and we decided on this…Be a Superhero! Make a difference in the world! Study! Help Others! Be Kind! Work Hard! Get a Treat and a Tattoo! We bought 350 superhero and halloween themed tattoos for the children and their families. We also put a label on every one of the 450 pieces of candy we were going to give out! Our local Party Fair store donated some tablecloths for this special event.
We spent a few hours setting up the day before and arrived early the day of to make all the finishing touches. We were finally all ready!!
All of the planning was fun but nothing compared to the moment when the children and their families arrived. This is what it was all about. Seeing the children’s smiling faces when they walked into our room and the excitement they had when they chose their tattoos and piece of candy made us feel so good. Helping these children by making a a safe and fun place for them to celebrate Halloween like every child should have, is the gift we wanted to give. This is the true meaning of doing a mitzvah…a good deed.
We learned so much from this experience but our best lesson learned was that giving of yourself is the most important thing you can do. Thank you United Way for giving us the chance to make a difference.
About the Contributors: Emma and Chloe Foster-Storch are 7th grade students at Newtown Elementary school. Emma’s hobbies are playing the bass,listening to music and fencing. Chloe enjoys listening to music, singing and creative writing. Both girls are highly involved in planning their Bat Mitzvah in March 2015 and are very committed to find a way to helping those who need it most in Bucks County. That is a super mitzvah!!!