Sarah Weill, Haley Prague, and Ally Friedman are eighth graders who attend Heritage Middle School. The girls, who are 13 and 14 years old, recently donated more than 500 books to the Corrina Kay Williams Head Start Center in East Orange. The teens decided to do the book drive because they noticed that the school was in need of additional books.

 The teens volunteer at the Head Start Center as part of the VolunTweens program run by the National Council of Jewish Women, Essex County Section (NCJW). This marks their second year volunteering at the school. Last year, they participated in a coat drive. Knowing how much the 3 - 5 year old kids loved books, the girls thought it would be a great idea to donate new and gently used texts. The drive resulted in the largest donation of books that the school has ever received.

The book drive took place over the course of 4-6 weeks. The girls gathered books from members of Temple B’nai Abraham Early School and Religious School. The three teens have learned over their course of volunteering at the Corrina Kay Head Start Center that the students and staff are thankful for anything they are able to donate.  

To become a Voluntween, the girls were required to have free time after school, be a student in grades 5-8, and enjoy working with children. Their participation in the program, which runs from November through March, includes helping teachers conduct arts & crafts projects, reading time, circle time, music activities, and more. The teens visit the school Thursday afternoons between 3:30-5 p.m.

In addition to being supervised by the teacher, Haley, Ally and Sarah were also guided by two staff members who are in each classroom. Defined as a program that’s for teens that want to make a difference, these three young ladies have done that and more. The girls are already thinking about how they can help the school next year.