Crafts For A Cause

Hundreds of USYers picked up scissors and paints to make one-of-a-kind care packages for sick children.

by Emily Schweitzer

Ani ve’ata neshaneh et ha’olam
Ani ve’ata az yavo’u kvar kulam

You and I will change the world
You and I, then all will follow

That’s exactly what happened. This past January the New York metropolitan region of United Synagogue Youth (METNY USY) hosted its annual Mid-Winter Kallah in Somerset, N.J., and took full advantage of the participants’ helping hands. Three hundred USYers and eighth graders spent their weekend praying, learning about the Conservative movement, eating, meeting new people, hanging out and changing a small part of the world.
As METNY’s regional social action/tikkun olam vice president, my goal was to make the most

of my programming time. Saturday night’s tikkun olam program was an elaborate version of “Name that Tune” and over $4,000 was raised. All of the proceeds will be donated to One Family Fund which helps rebuild the lives of Israeli victims of terrorism. Afterward excitement mounted for the social action fair that would take place the following morning.
The fair took months of planning with constant changes made along the way. I wanted to make things and donate them to a children’s hospital but it wasn’t an easy task. If it’s not in the form of a check, there are many rules about what types of donations are accepted. After being turned away by other hospitals I contacted Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian in Manhattan which was thrilled about my program and happy to receive anything.
I decided to have nine stations. At each one the participants would create something to donate. Through the generosity of Build-A-Bear we obtained their famous bears, houses and T-shirts for a fraction of the cost. I bought other supplies at extremely low prices. The METNY board stayed up into the early hours of that Sunday morning setting up. The stations were as follows: decorating T-shirts and houses for the bears; making colorful bookmarks; creating alphabet books; decorating gift bags and stuffing them with pencils, stickers, and pipe cleaners; assembling pillows; writing cheerful letters; decorating envelopes; and making color-by-number pictures.
The most time consuming station was the one making alphabet books. For this project I collected hundreds of magazines. Every participant cut out pictures representing each letter of the alphabet, glued them onto paper and wrote the words with which they were associated. The pillows were made of felt and stuffing and will certainly add color to the children’s hospital beds.
While planning the program I discovered that the patients like to decorate their IV poles. I searched store after store and finally found giant, colorful, fuzzy pipe cleaners, which can be wrapped around the poles without interfering with the IV lines. Each kid will receive one of these and we’ll help them twist and shape them around the poles.
Attendees wrote get well letters placing them into envelopes that had been made to look like elephants, mice and cows. The USYers made various color-by-number pictures to brighten up the hospital walls. Each patient will receive a new friend — a soft, cuddly bear, wearing a tiny T-shirt and living in a house decorated by USYers. Every item was handmade with love and affection. USYers will hand deliver all of these packages to the children.
We followed rules regarding sanitary conditions while these items were being made. Hair had to be tied back and non-latex gloves had to be worn. We adhered to the hospital’s requests so that the patients could enjoy their presents to the fullest.
I decided to give a small prize to the first one who completed all of the stations. When I presented an enthusiastic eighth grader with the gift card from a coffee establishment he shook his head. He said that he did this for kids who are ill and didn’t want a reward. These are the type of great kids we have in METNY.
It’s always a challenge to find new and interesting ways to motivate teens. It took many hours of research, planning and lots of phone calls (Yes, I went over my monthly cell phone minutes but it was for a good cause.) I strongly felt that METNY, an amazing region, could make a bigger difference with finished projects than by donating money. It certainly would have been much easier to donate the latter, but definitely not as personal or fun.
My “METNY kids” accepted a challenge and surpassed it. I’m so proud of all of them. I slept for two days following Mid-Winter Kallah knowing I had done my best as social action/tikkun olam regional VP. This was a social action project that was well worth all of the time and effort that I put into it. I cannot wait to deliver the items to the kids and see their smiling faces.
So if you’re not yet an active member of METNY USY become one. Jump on board because this train is on the fast track to greater things and you don’t want to be left behind. Together we are a mighty region and can accomplish more. I want to thank the leaders of METNY for giving me permission to go to the moon and back with this program. I owe it all to you for having faith in me and in this devoted and charitable region. It is because of you and the USYers that on Jan. 27, 2008, we made a difference.
Amru et zeh kodem lefanai
zeh lo meshaneh, ani ve’ata neshaneh et ha’olam.

Others have said it before me,
It doesn’t matter; you and I will change the world.
Emily Schweitzer is a senior at Francis Lewis High School in Fresh Meadows, Queens.

Westchester Jewish Conference

Westchester’s Jewish Community Relations Organization