At Frisch, students develop into passionate members of the Jewish community whose concerns for social welfare extend beyond school.
The Chessed Society provides a way for Frisch students to enhance the lives of others in the wider community. The Society organizes various initiatives throughout the year, including, but not limited to, Thanksgiving and Pesach food drives and a Chanukah toy drive.
Grade-wide Chessed Days scheduled during the year allow students to take the Jewish values that they learn in the classroom and actualize them in the community. Students engage in various community service projects which include: meeting with residents of nursing homes, volunteering at local food pantries, preparing and serving food in soup kitchens, cleaning Jewish cemeteries (Chessed Shel Emet), building Sukkot for senior citizens and working with individuals with developmental disabilities. The goal of each Chessed Day is to expose each student to various acts of chessed in order to foster future involvement in such organizations and other communal service initiatives. Collaboration for a common cause also contributes to the social cohesion among our students which enriches the warm environment at Frisch.
Discovery Read Aloud is a student club whose goal is to improve literacy throughout the world. Students record and create videos of themselves or their friends reading children’s books, and post the videos to the club’s Youtube channel. The club was initially created to help mitigate the issue of young children falling behind during the Coronavirus-induced shutdowns. The club partners with schools inside and outside of our community to help bolster literacy.
Frisch hosts Friendship Circle events every week after school, with Frisch students leading Jewish special needs children through a host of activities geared toward their needs and interests. Working with Friendship Circle children deepens Frisch students’ sensitivity and strengthens our community of kindness.
The Gift of Life Marrow Registry is a stem cell and bone marrow registry that saves lives through matching blood cancer patients with potential marrow donors. Participants in this club help set up the annual bone marrow testing drive at Frisch, where participants get swabbed and join the registry.
iShine is a project affiliated with the organization Chai Lifeline. In this club, Frisch students serve as “big brothers” and “big sisters” to children who have a family member suffering from a terminal illness or who has passed away. Frisch students help with homework, play games with the kids, and eat dinner with them twice a week after school.
Kahal promotes Jewish life at Frisch and sponsors activites to benefit Jewish causes and organizations. Each year, Kahal runs a “three-on three” basketball tournament and organizes other fundraisers whose proceeds go to tzedakah. Students select which Jewish tzedakah fund
the proceeds will benefit.
Kookies is a student run club which bakes cookies and sells them in beautifully packaged platters for Shabbat. Student leaders research and select worthy causes as beneficiaries of the sales. Students plan, advertise, bake, package, and sell the wildly popular cookies. Bake sales take place multiple times throughout the school year.
Strings for S.A.R.A.H. creates woven jewelry and other items, with
proceeds from sales going to benefit Project S.A.R.A.H. (Stop Abusive
Relationships at Home). Project S.A.R.A.H. works to support victims of domestic violence and is affiliated with Jewish Family Services in NJ.
Yachad, the National Jewish Council for Jewish Disabilities, promotes inclusion for all people in our community. Students who volunteer with Yachad socialize, form friendships, and take part in
programs with individuals who have disabilities and special needs.