Eagle Scout, 13, Spruces Up New Mexico Chabad Center

When Luke Tumblin, 13, was trying to figure out what to do for his Eagle Scout Service Project, he considered and discarded a number of ideas. The youngster, who hopes to reach the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America, knew his project would have to help others and make a lasting impression on his community.

He considered the places and organizations that meant the most to him, and settled on the Alevy Chabad Jewish Center in Las Cruces, N.M., co-directed by Rabbi Bery and Chenchie Schmukler. It was there that he became a bar mitzvah and where he also still learns.

“I hang out a lot at Chabad, and we try to go to Friday-night services as much as we can,” says Luke, referring to his family. “And I noticed that the room for kids to hang out in was run-down, and I thought, ‘My Eagle project is coming up and I need to do a service project for a nonprofit—what better place than Chabad?”

The children’s area wasn’t so much run-down as it was unfinished, explains Rabbi Schmukler, noting that they recently renovated their building, and that the first priority was finishing the synagogue area. But with the launch of Hebrew school this fall, along with a local chapter of C-Teens (the Chabad-Lubavitch teen network), fixing up a classroom area (which the rabbi estimates is actually about a quarter of the building) took on a new sense of urgency.

Luke’s project really came at a fortuitous time.

“This is tremendous,” says the rabbi. “The only way we will be able to have a Hebrew school in September is if we have that room ready. We are trying to get the funds to put in air-conditioning, and we realize that it will cost about $8,000 to do that and more.”

The 13-year-old is working hard towards that effort. “Luke is hustling,” affirms the rabbi. “He’s spending his entire summer break pretty much on this, trying to get local stores to donate items.”

‘They Want to Help’

The eighth-grader’s determination has already paid off; he arranged to have tables donated to the synagogue by the local public-school system.

But the rest of his goals—from putting in window shades to getting bookshelves in and up, and painting the walls and lockers—will cost some money.

To that end, he is running two fundraisers. One is virtual: Through an online fundraiser, which kicked off less than three weeks ago, Luke is already more than half-way towards his online fundraising goal of $1,200 for the project.

The other is the brick-and-mortar sort—namely, a bake sale. With the support of his father, Michael Tumblin, and 16-year-old brother, Austin, coupled with the help of his mother, Gerri Tumblin, and Chenchie Schmukler, Luke spent most of last Wednesday at the Chabad center, making 10 large batches of challah dough.

Because of the amount of challah made—some 100 loaves—Chenchie Schmukler asked a group of local women to join in the preparations. “They came and helped us braid the dough,” Luke says, “and we it got done in half the time.”

By 8 p.m. on Wednesday, more than $260 worth of challah had been sold (each loaf cost $5). So on Thursday, the boy and his mom made even more.

A local supermarket, Toucan Market, which had donated the ingredients for the challah, offered Luke a small table in their store on Friday, where he sold the remaining loaves before Shabbat, making a total of $660.

“I’m inspired that a kid at 13 sees what’s important,” says Rabbi Schmukler. “Luke always wants to help other Jewish kids in the community. He asks a friend to learn with him or come to an event.

“If you look at who’s donated so far, it’s his fourth-grade teacher, his friends, people he knew for years—they all know Luke can accomplish anything, and they want to help.”

As for Luke, who says he’s eagerly awaiting the launch of C-Teens this fall, “doing something for Chabad is a really good feeling. … I always want them to have something new.”