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Community Corner

Becky Marcus Donates 30 Food Baskets Through Bat Mitzvah Project

The 13-year-old brought her Torah readings to life by fighting hunger in Beachwood and Cleveland

When Becky Marcus saw a child lie about his age just to eat lunch while volunteering at Langston Hughes Library’s Summer Food Service Program for Children last summer, she knew what she wanted her bat mitzvah to focus on.

“The kids were telling him he couldn’t go in there, but he needed the food and he didn’t have any other choice.” Becky said. “That’s what inspired me to help fix this.”

Becky and her mom designed a project to help feed underprivileged children and the elderly. They designed approximately 30 food baskets for (JFSA) and the Kathryn R. Tyler Neighborhood Center in Glenville.

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“One of the biggest problems in the city of Cleveland is hunger,” Rabbi Sharon Marcus said. “One of the issues in the school system is that the kids are not getting enough food at home that they can’t study or do their work.”

Becky’s Torah reading came from the book of Leviticus and dealt with hunger and giving back to the elderly. She wanted to try and link her service project with the readings and since Park Synagogue sponsors the Langston Hughes Library lunch program, she decided to volunteer.

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“I thought it was nice to connect [her project] to the reading,” Sharon said. “It made it more meaningful.”

Becky researched neighborhood centers that helped kids during the school year. She chose the Kathryn R. Tyler Neighborhood Center in Glenville because it would likely help those kids she met during her experience volunteering at Langston Hughes Library. She also wanted to give back to the Jewish community so she gave some of the food baskets to Jewish Family Service Association (JFSA).

“They were shocked because they thought it was just going to be a few boxes,” Becky said. “They loved it.”

Her bat mitzvah is only the beginning. Becky and Sharon plan on continuing to find ways to help out the center through future donations.

“I’m hoping we can donate more,” Sharon said. “They’re in our mind now, we want to keep up with them.”

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