On Thursday, over 60 Frisch students from ninth through 12th grade volunteered for OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services, packing 250 bags of art supplies! They had a blast and, as a bonus, also got to enjoy pizza, T-shirts and swag.

The packing event was preceded by a school-wide art supplies drive, after Frisch junior Richie Nadritch made a call to OHEL, a large social service agency serving thousands of people across New York and New Jersey. “I contacted OHEL because I wanted to help children,” he said. “I thought specifically during the pandemic, kids who come to OHEL might need more support now. OHEL mentioned that there is always a significant need for art supplies for their children. Children always need and really love their own supplies and use them as a way to express themselves.”

Nadritch said that the Frisch volunteers succeeded in packing all 250 bags in 20 minutes. He credited his peers who served on the Frisch committee—Jack Fischer, Noah Greenbaum, Harrison Tassler, Caleb Breda, Maayan Keigher—for all their work promoting the effort and thanked Kaila Lasky, OHEL’s coordinator of Volunteer Engagement, and Rabbi Joshua Schulman, Frisch’s director of Chessed Programming, for their help.

“Frisch is such an exciting, happy place to be—the energy was incredible,” stated Lasky, who said she loved working with the students.

Frisch students have run a number of chesed drives during the COVID-19 pandemic, for food, coats, books, toys and more. “We have tried to address various needs that students have identified within the community,” said Rabbi Schulman. “OHEL told us we could help, and we were thrilled to do so.”