Miami Students Gather Ma’os Chittim for Food Bank

The students of Miami’s Lubavitch Educational Center got a real-life experience in what it means to help members of their community.  This year, Purim’s mitzvah of matanos l’evyonim and Pesach’s mitzvah of ma’os chitim were tied into one.

Each class was challenged to gather as many food items as they could to help stock the shelves of the local kosher food bank.

The classes had one week to accomplish the task and the response was overwhelming.  By the end of the week-long campaign, well over 3,000 food items were collected, and over 60 students were honored with delivering the items and stocking the shelves.

Boys’ grades 2a – Rabbi Rabin, 5a – Rabbi Steinberg and 4b – Rabbi Weiss were the winners, having brought in the greatest number of food items.  As their reward, they were treated to be the bearers of good wishes and accompanied the delivery.

Director of the JCS food bank, Mrs. Bonnie Schwartzbaum, emailed and called LEC Program Director Rabbi Yakov Garfinkel a number of times to thank the students and families profusely; she added “In all my years, this is the largest shipment of food we have ever received from a school.”

“The Lubavitch Educational Center is proud to have that title, and we hope it becomes the drive for continuous acts of chesed in the future,” Rabbi Garfinkel told CrownHeights.info.

“As we have now celebrated the 112th year since the birth of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, our student body felt that there was no better way to pay tribute to this important day than by fulfilling the Rebbe’s clarion call of helping a fellow Jew.  Both inside and outside the classroom, from pre-school to high school, that is the fundamental lesson students at the Lubavitch Educational center receive,” he said.