Tzedakah Projects at the Charlotte Jewish Preschool

from Charlotte Jewish News April 2021

Hebrew Cemetery

Charlotte Jewish News April 2021

By Jenna Owens-Shumate

COVID can’t keep us down at Charlotte Jewish Preschool (CJP)! My name is Jenna Owens-Shumate, and I am one of the lead teachers on the magnificent 4-year-olds’ team. I want to share some magic with you today and talk about how generous and adaptable children can be, even during a global pandemic.

We are creating new and innovative ways to keep our students engaged with Jewish values. Traditionally, our school comes together annually as an entire student body to combine our tzedakah collection. Because of COVID-related restrictions, this year we have delegated the responsibility of giving tzedakah to individual classes. What an opportunity!

I asked my students what they would like to do for our tzedakah project this year. Much to my surprise, they chose the idea to help homeless animals! Kehillah (community) is our classroom theme, and for seven months we have discussed and demonstrated what it means to be a community. We have embarked on various community projects. But it wasn’t until our tzedakah unit that the class combined the themes of “Who in our community may be in need?” and “How may we help?”

After completing a large food drive for Jewish Family Services food pantry, our class sought other organizations to help. I had seen social media posts from Day One Animal Rescue requesting supplies and funding assistance from the community. I contacted the rescue to see if we could partner with it. The organization gladly accepted, and our partnership was born!

Our class jumped right in! We asked Day One for information regarding pets that were struggling to be placed in homes. We used its information to create posters for our school hallways and flyers to send home with students. We also asked for a wish list of the rescue’s most vitally needed items. From there, our class created a flyer, checklist, and donation box. While hard at work on these projects, one stu-

dent, Freyr Johnson, jumped up and exclaimed, “Why don’t we hand out these flyers to the other classes so they can help too?” Off we went to deliver flyers to other classrooms. Thus far, I have already made two trips to Day One Animal Rescue to drop off more than $200 worth of supplies our class purchased with the tzedakah we had raised.

I am so proud of the Kehillah class! But the work is not finished. If you would like to donate to One Day, please do so at: Day One Animal Rescue 1101 Baldwin Avenue Marion, NC 28752 (828) 559-2777 Paypal: dayoneanimalrescue Be sure to say the Kehillah class sent you!