During their last week of summer vacation, Ma’ayanot students joined forces with New Jersey NCSY to volunteer with Nechama, a Jewish disaster-relief organization, to help clean up homes destroyed by flooding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Heavy rainfall in the beginning of August damaged or destroyed an estimated 110,000 homes in Louisiana, causing what has been called the worst disaster in the United States since Hurricane Sandy. For three days, eight Ma’ayanot students and two peers from New Jersey public schools gutted moldy walls and hauled soggy trash to the curb.

“When I signed up for this trip, I was aware I was making a difference, but I had no idea what an impact I would make,” said Maya Stiefel, a Ma’ayanot sophomore. On their first day, the girls cleaned out the home of an elderly woman whose belongings lay in ruins on her front lawn. “Instead of being sad about all the destruction, the woman was immensely grateful and blessed us,” Maya said. “Cleaning out this lady’s house was a difficult job in the sweltering heat, but when we saw what a difference it made in her life, it felt like we had really, truly made a difference in the world. There is no better feeling than that.”

By JLNJ Staff