We all love Thanksgiving. For many, it’s a time to spend the afternoon with family or friends, enjoying traditional food and feeling thankful for the blessings in our lives. But for the youth of Anshe Chesed of Linden, the festivities begin early in the morning.

This Thanksgiving, Anshe Chesed’s youth continued their annual tradition of bringing pies to the fire department to thank them for all they do. After a delicious hot breakfast, the teens and youth gathered to bake apple, pumpkin and cherry pies from scratch while also decorating thank you cards. They then hand-delivered the pies and cards to the local Linden fire department.

“Hakarat hatov is one of our foundational values,” said Rabbi Katz. “We wanted to emphasize to our kids, and to ourselves, that we can never take for granted those who dedicate their lives, even sacrificing family time on Thanksgiving, to keep us safe.

“It was also beautiful to see how the teens of our shul took on leadership roles. Not only did they get involved hands-on, but they also led and guided the younger kids on how to roll the dough, fill the pies and make artistic pie toppings.”

As for the pies, not all of them made it to the fire department. The youth are already looking forward to tasting the one or two that may have been “accidentally left behind” at kiddush this Shabbos!