Youth Volunteer Steps Up For Needy Families

Mikalah Weinger of Suffern assisted at the Rockland Jewish Family Service’s Rhoda Bloom Kosher Food Pantry in West Nyack as part of her Bat Mitzvah project. Mikalah, 12, also reached out to local businesses for Thanksgiving food donations for struggling Rockland County families.

On Friday, she and Maria Dowling from RJFS accepted delivery of 20 turkeys from Fairway Market in Nanuet and 135 chickens from  KJ Kosher Poultry of Kiryas Joel. Turkeys were provided for larger families and the chickens were donated for smaller families. Weinger said she wanted the families to have turkeys and chickens so they could celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with dignity

Weinger, who became a Bat Mitzvah in October at Orangetown Jewish Center, said she was “excited and happy that she could help other people have a nice Thanksgiving.”