On Sunday, The Giving Tree members and volunteers came together at the Schaefer Family Campus of Temple Beth El in Boca Raton to organize and pack backpacks for children of low-income families in Palm Beach County ahead of the start of the upcoming school year.
The Giving Tree began as a small group at Temple Beth El in 1990 and has since grown to become a grassroots organization which includes volunteers from Temple Beth El and throughout the city of Boca Raton.
Jennie Kreger is one of the co-chairpersons of The Giving Tree. She reflected on how the event began and how it has grown to this point. “We started this program about four years ago with a request from a social worker for about 50 backpacks. Every summer we have added more,” she said.
Kreger said that for the event this year, the organization is packing 500 bags total, 400 at the event with a prior 100 which have already been packed. Those previously packed bags were given to the Deerfield Housing Authority which has a back-to-school drive of its own. Kreger also explained where the bags packed at the event will be headed.
“About 200 of them are going to Caridad which is an organization in Boynton Beach, mostly for migrant families,” she said. “About 150 are going to an organization called Brothers Helping Brothers and the rest are going through our Quiet Giving program, which is a program where case workers from different social service agencies reach out to us through our website for specific case families.”
This year, The Giving Tree decided to change up how it organizes the Back-to-School Program. Kreger said that in the past, they would ask for full backpack donations rather than helping in packing them. “This year we decided to engage our community a bit more,” she said. “Instead of asking for a full backpack, we just ask for their time.”
The event was organized into two sessions, with the first beginning at 9 a.m. Those who participated in the first session were tasked with organizing all the supplies into three separate assembly lines, representing the bags that would be packed for elementary school, middle school and high school students. A second group arrived at 12 p.m. to fill all of the backpacks.
“The best part of it is that the people who have shown up today maybe would not have for other events in our organization, but this event really spoke to them,” Kreger said.
She also shared that the cost of the supplies for this program cost around $12,000. The Giving Tree runs completely on voluntary service and donations. Instead of asking for backpacks, the organization asked for support by volunteering or through monetary donations.
Lauren Gross is the other co-chairperson for The Giving Tree organization. She explained that programs like this are why she is serving in this position. “I think the best part is the feeling you get when you’re helping people in need that have no other resources,” she said. “It’s very rewarding.”
Gross explained that this is the largest Back- to- School program that The Giving Tree has had to this point. She was not expecting this turnout for the event. “We were saying if we got 20 people we would be happy,” Gross said. “We’ve gotten over 50 people today that are coming to help out just from the good of their heart.”
Gross explained the process that goes into organizing this program and bringing it to life with this event. She said that with everything that went into taking inventory and ordering supplies, the total time to get to this event has been around two months.
“We had lots of volunteers that were participating from their own homes,” she said. “Once we realized there were people who were willing to help and we had this amazing space [Temple Beth El] we just decided to do it here and it became what it is today.
Gross also said that it is very heartwarming for volunteers to come out to help with the event.
“People that I have never even seen before know that our mission is to help people in the community, and that means the world to us,” she said.
Susie Goldberg is the Vice President of Finance for the Sisterhood at Temple Beth El. She has been involved with The Giving Tree since she became a member of Temple Beth El three years ago. As she was volunteering at the event, she spoke very highly of the organization. “It’s just a wonderful, wonderful organization with many volunteers who want to step up and help anybody in the community,” Goldberg said.
She explained that she wanted to donate her time to something she finds meaningful, drawing inspiration from her 10-year-old daughter who is going into fifth grade. “Everyone is fortunate with something, whether it be their time, their money and their connections,” she said. “For me personally, I wanted to donate my time and some money towards the good as well and it really just feels good and fills your heart.”
Goldberg also noted that it’s nice to be able to help those in need, and points out that everyone goes through a time in their life where they might not have everything they need. “You can leave here with a sense of purpose knowing that you helped people in the community,” she said.
Leslie Steinberg is a member of the Giving Tree who served as a former co-chairperson for almost 20 years. She notes the evolution that The Giving Tree has gone through since she joined up until now. “Every year our community impact grows,” Steinberg said. “When Jenny spoke earlier today, she said last year we did 200 and this year we’re doing 400 backpacks. We’re growing exponentially because the need is exponential.
Steinberg is certain The Giving Tree is left in good hands with Kreger and Gross. “They’re taking it in a new direction,” she said. “This backpack project used to be done in someone’s house or garage. Now what’s wonderful is that not only are we doing it here, but they’ve been able to engage the larger temple community.”
As the start of the new school year is just around the corner in Palm Beach County, this event helped The Giving Tree to make a significant positive impact in its community. Anybody looking to volunteer or get involved with the organization can reach out through thegivingtreeboca.org.
Bio on the author:
Jack Alperstein is a journalism student at the University of Florida. He discovered our Giving Tree event online and decided to use it for a class project. Jack attended the event, conducted the above interviews and participated in the event throughout the day.
FEATURED IMAGE PHOTO CREDIT: JACK ALPERSTEIN
Photo Caption:
Co-chairpersons Lauren Gross (second from the left) and Jennie Kreger (far right) pose for a picture with Temple Beth El members, Susan Stallone (far left) and Rita Diamond (second from right) following the completion of the unpacking and organization session of the event.
