The Jewish community in Utah came together Wednesday to help more than 200 West High School students bring home just a bit of spirit and joy with free holiday shopping for families in need.
“My family needs to have, even though we don’t celebrate Christmas, clothes are kind of expensive now,” said tenth grader Fatuma Ali.
Ali shared how the holidays can be a difficult time for students at the school.
“People usually use school as their comfort zone, or like a way to get out of the house, but then, well, it’s closed up, it’s cold outside, and there’s not much stuff to do,” she said.
For 35 years, the Utah chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women has collected donations ranging from jackets to diapers, rice, toothbrushes and books for its annual Shalom/Salaam/Tikkun-Olam project.
“[Shalom] means peace in the two languages, and the Tikkun-Olam means to repair the world through service,” explained Susan Corth with the council.
The donations are for students whose families have recently migrated to the state.