In conjunction with his Bar Mitzvah, Weber Middle School student Ethan Sanft completed a “mitzvah” project that motivated him to volunteer his time with and give support to a charitable organization.
After doing some research on several organizations, Ethan learned about Hugs Across America and the work they do and decided he would like to work with them to help others. Hugs Across America is a non-denominational, not-for-profit charitable organization that provides teddy bears, curricular materials and messages of care to lessen the fear and anxiety experienced by children in crisis.
To date, Hugs Across America has provided over 410,000 teddy bears through its partnership with first response agencies that work directly with those children.
When Ethan invited guests to his Bar Mitzvah, he asked for their help in conducting a teddy bear drive through either monetary donations that would be used to purchase the bears or the donation of a new teddy bear.
Through the generosity of his family and friends, Ethan was able to collect and purchase 35 new teddy bears.
Following his Bar Mitzvah, Ethan wrote encouraging notes of love and support for each bear and tied them around their necks with royal blue and silver ribbon (his Bar Mitzvah colors).
In addition, Ethan had the privilege of volunteering at Hugs Across America’s annual Teddy Bear Picnic where he supervised the game station for the young children attending the event and helped with the event cleanup. Through the generosity of event attendees and sponsors, Ethan was able to collect an additional 48 teddy bears, for a total of 83 bears to donate to a first response agency.
When Ethan contacted Hugs Across America founder Susan Lucarelli to find out where she would like the bears to be donated, he learned that one of the agencies that was in need of teddy bears was the Port Washington Fire Department.
He met with Fire Marshall James Penrose at Fire Medic Company #1 to donate the bears, receive a tour of the station and one of its ambulances and to learn how the bears he collected would be used to help calm children who have been involved directly or indirectly in a tragic situation such as a fire or auto accident.
He was thrilled that through his efforts, children in his own community involved in a difficult situation would receive comfort.
