As part of their Operation Respect empathy unit in Advisory, seventh graders coordinated a campaign to help the residents of the Hackensack homeless shelter. After engaging in lessons regarding empathy skills and a true understanding of the plight of the homeless, students collected toiletries, as per the request of the shelter, and ran a toiletries sale during lunch. The items were packaged by the students into gift bags with meaningful notes from Yavneh students and were delivered to the shelter. It impressed upon the students the Kiddush Hashem that they are doing and the importance of focusing on giving, especially near Chanukah. It feels wonderful to receive the gifts they get during Chanukah, but it feels even more wonderful to give.

Students had the privilege of visiting the shelter on Wednesday, December 18. They performed for the residents, accompanied by Mr. Steiner on guitar. Students spoke about the importance of hope, continuing to dream and believing that better days are coming, and sang “One Day” and “A Million Dreams.”