Aberdeen nursery school donates children's books to hospital in Neptune
Members of the nursery school class at Temple Shalom in Aberdeen
collected 100 books that were donated to the K. Hovnanian Children's
Hospital at Jersey Shore University Medical Center. Photo courtesy Temple Shalom
Hospitalized children in Monmouth County have received a special gift from the nursery school class at Temple Shalom in Aberdeen.
Last month, the children, with help from family members and friends, collected 100 books that were then donated to the K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.
The book drive was part of the temple nursery school's Mitzvah of the Month Program, and was planned by the synagogue's nursery school committee. The yearlong program is designed to encourage the performance of good deeds in the community and features a different project each month, according to nursery school director Cindy Terebush.
Prior Mitzvah of the Month Programs focused on organizing a blood drive and collecting food for needy families. In addition to the Mitzvah of the Month Program, the nursery school students are also collecting items and raising funds that are donated to such organizations as the American Dental Association Foundation and the Jewish Guild for the Blind, Terebush said.
"Temple Shalom's nursery school teaches our students about the importance of helping others in the community," she said. "We teach the children about who will be receiving their donations, and they were excited to be able to give books to other children. They had a great deal of sympathy for all the children who could not go to school or go out to play because they need to be in the hospital."
And the temple's spirit of tikun olam has not gone unnoticed by recipients of the generosity.
"For hospitalized children, who are scared and away from home, a familiar book can be a comforting experience," said Dr. Steven Kairys, head of pediatrics at Jersey Shore. "We also use the books to promote literacy and we have volunteers and parents who read to the very young children who can't yet read on their own."
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