Warm Winter Clothing Drive
By Jacob Edward Holdowsky, Class of 2017
Rutgers Hillel Student Board Community Service Co-Chair
Jacob Holdowsky ’17
The spring semester is right around the corner and we’re kicking it off with a wintery bang! Rutgers Hillel will be holding its Warm Winter Clothing Drive in the opening week of school and is accepting donations from Tuesday, January 19th – Sunday, January 24th.
Why should you donate? The feeling you will receive from helping another person is a feeling like no other. Honestly, the more you give, the more you receive. This cliché used to make no sense to me, and I thought of it as a ploy to persuade people into volunteering. But as your Community Service Co-Chair, who also works for the Hebrew Academy for Special Children (HASC) taking care of three beautiful young men with developmental disabilities, I am in a position to tell you that this “cliché” is the truth. The more you give, the more you receive. (You must try it to truly understand.) Your חסד (Chesed) or act of loving-kindness will not only provide warmth to the people of the New Brunswick area, but it will also push you to clean up around the house.
Provide warmth to the people of the New Brunswick area
Jacob Holdowsky ’17
One sweater, one blanket, one pair of socks can make the difference between warmth & coziness and freezing & illness during this winter season. YOU can give a child the winter hat s/he needs. YOU can insure that a homeless mother has a blanket for her family. YOU can provide an elderly man with the pair of boots he needs to visit his children. This is an opportunity to get yourself on a wonderful path of צדקה (Tze-da-ka) or justice! Personally, my favorite forms of צדקה are providing the homeless with meals from local restaurants, giving extra layers of clothing to those who need, and playing guitar and singing for patients at Robert Wood Johnson. We’re counting on YOU to make this drive and other community service events successful. Join us in our pursuit of dedicating more time to the well-being of our beautiful community in New Brunswick.
Clean up around the house
Do you have a lot of clothing around the house that you just don’t know what to do with? You want to know the first thing I did? I took one good look at my room and said, “You know what? This place is a mess and I don’t even wear the majority of the clothes I have piled up. It’s time to get to work.” I now have bags of clothing to give away, and I can finally see the floor! This is your opportunity to see the floor in your room again! Go through each article of clothing and decide if:
- You want to keep it
- You want to donate
If you want to donate it, throw it in a bag along with the rest of your donations, and bring them to Hillel any day from Tuesday, January 19th – Sunday, January 24th! We’re looking forward to seeing you and all of the clothes you haven’t touched in three and a half years! 🙂
Click here for the Rutgers Hillel Warm Winter Clothing Drive Facebook event
